Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. 40 acres and a mule -- 2. The early years -- 3. She's gotta have it -- 4. School daze -- 5. Do the right thing -- 6. Mo' better blues -- 7. Jungle fever -- 8. Malcolm X --9. Crooklyn -- 10. Clockers -- 11. Girl 6 -- 12. Get on the bus and 4 little girls -- 13. He got game -- 14. Summer of Sam -- 15. Original kings of comedy, bamboozled, a Huey P. Newton story and Jim Brown -- 16. The 25th hour -- 17. Sucker free city and she hate me -- Epilogue.

Lee is the provocative director whose pioneering films--from Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever to Malcolm X--helped transform the face of late twentieth-century America. Since bursting onto the scene in 1986 with the sexually provocative She's Gotta Have It, He has been one of America's most visionary and controversial cinematic figures. With film critic Kaleem Aftab, Lee chronicles his explosive rise to stardom, exploring such important issues as Black Nationalism, Hollywood stereotyping, and the rise of a powerful black middle class. With Lee family interviews and the candid revelations of stars like Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Ed Norton, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, and Wesley Snipes, this book is the story of a visionary life in the cinema, telling us as much about Lee as it does about the past two decades of American social history.--From publisher description.