The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autiobiography
Sidney Poitier, 2000
HarperCollins
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780061357909
Summary
I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set.
In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measure—as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.
Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.
Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates to who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.
Here is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits—his own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—February 20, 1927
• Where—Miami, Florida, USA
• Reared— in Cat Island, The Bahamas
• Awards—Academy Award for Best Actor; Life Achievement
Award, Screen Actors Guild
Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor for his outstanding performance in Lilies of the Field in 1963. His landmark films include The Defiant Ones, A Patch of Blue, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and To Sir, With Love. He has starred in over forty films, directed nine, and written four. He is the author of two autobiographies: This Life and the "Oprah's Book Club" pick and New York Times bestseller The Measure of a Man. Among many other accolades, Poitier has been awarded the Screen Actors Guild's highest honor, the Life Achievement Award, for an outstanding career and humanitarian accomplishment. He is married, has six daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Poitier's second autobiography—reflective, generous, humane —is moving, as Poitier's memory keeps returning to the values and struggles of his parents.
New York Times Book Review
Reading The Measure of a Man is somewhat akin to having a worthwhile conversation with a revered older relative; he doesn’t always tell you what you want to hear, but you appreciate it just the same.
Washington Post
With the unwavering sense of dignity and worth.... This man’s authenticity is earned by the life he describes.
Los Angeles Times
Sidney Poitier's The Measure Of A Man is the autobiography of the only black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his outstanding performance in Lilies of the Field in 1963. He is also the thirty-sixth recipient of the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award for his outstanding career and humanitarian accomplishments. In The Measure Of A Man, a complete and unabridged eight-hour, 6 cassette audiobook edition narrated by Poitier, we are presented with the elements of his character and personal values that are key to his international renown both professionally and personally. His introspective examination of what the life experiences which informed his performances we are gifted with a picture of a man of truth, passion, balance, and a triumph of the spirit over a multitude of hardships and obstacles. Flawlessly produced and performed, The Measure Of A Man is "must" listening for all Sidney Poitier fans.
Internet Book Watch
(Audio version.) Given the personal nature of this narrative, it's impossible to imagine hearing anyone other than Poitier, with his distinctive, resonant voice and perfect enunciation, tell the story. In his second memoir Poitier talks about his childhood in the Caribbean, where he was terribly poor by American standards, but quite happy, swimming and climbing all he could. One of eight kids, Poitier was sent to live with an older brother in Miami when he started to get into difficulties as a teen. But frustrated by his inability to earn a living and by the disparaging way whites treated him, Poitier left Miami for New York. There he worked as a dishwasher, started a drama class and launched a celebrated acting career that led to starring roles in such classics as To Sir, with Love and Raisin in the Sun. Poitier's rendition of these events is so moving that listeners will wish this audio adaptation were twice as long.
Publishers Weekly
Winner of this year's Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album, this production is a delight in every way, with the narration by Poitier appropriately dramatic and mellifluous. The story of his meteoric and fated rise to fame as a successful actor respected by his peers almost belies his hardscrabble beginnings on Cat Island off the coast of the Bahamas. And the "lucky star" Poitier falls under is actually the common denominator among all successful people: a willingness to work harder, and an innate resourcefulness, including the ability to listen to one's own instincts and to move when the time is right. If this sounds philosophical, it is; the book is much more than another celebrity memoir. It is not only Poitier's reflection on a long life in the world of arts and entertainment but also a statement of his personal views on what it means to be a good man, honed in discussions with friends and fellow travelers on life's journey who were themselves of a philosophical frame of mind. Highly recommended. —Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Measure of a Man:
1. Talk about Poitier's role in changing American's film treatment of African Americans—from passive servants and bunglers to doctors, dectives and teachers. How effective, if at all, do you think Hollywood has been in lowering racial barriers in the larger American society? Can film create a change in attitudes...or do they simply reflect a change already taking place?
2. At some point, Poiter acknowledges that hope is irrational yet necessary for survival, a statement that seems a contradiction in terms. What does he mean?
3. Talk about the struggles of Poitier's parents? To what degree, if any, did his parents' resilience shape Poitier's life?
4. Attitudes changed in the late '60's, by which time Poitier was villified as Hollywood's Uncle Tom. What was meant by that criticism? What drove it, how fair or unfair was it, and how has Poitier reacted to it—then and now?
5. Do you sense an underlying anger in Poitier's memoir? Does it affect how you view Poitier or American society?
6. Talk about Poitier's statement that fear of failure can be even more destructive than failure itself. What does he mean?
7. How does Poitier's personal history reflect America's history? For starters, consider the conditions African-American actors faced when Poitier took to the stage in the 1940's and 1950's.
8. Overall, has this book changed, or reconfirmed, your ideas of Sidney Poitier and/or race in America?
9. Who are some of the other African-American figures who stood on the shoulders of Poitier and who, in turn, offered their shoulders for others to stand on—in other words, what other black individuals made a difference in changing racial attitudes?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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