The Resume

(August 2, 1924-November 30, 1987)
Resided in New York City, Paris and Istanbul
Wrote 'Go Tell It On the Mountain (1953),' 'Notes of a Native Son (1955),' 'The Amen Corner (1955),' 'Giovanni’s Room (1956),' 'Nobody Knows My Name (1962),' 'The Fire Next Time (1963),' 'If Beale Street Could Talk (1974)' and 'Just Above My Head (1979)'
Published in 'The New Leader,' 'The Nation,' 'Commentary' and 'Partisan Review'

Why he might be annoying:

He was a child preacher.
He supported violence in the name of civil rights.
The FBI monitored his activities because of his connections with Malcolm X and other radical black leaders.
Many of his 'fictional' works are thinly-veiled autobiographies.
As he got older, his books got worse.
He smoked.

Why he might not be annoying:

He grew up poor.
He never knew his real father.
His stepfather was abusive.
He encountered racism in the U.S. and Europe.
He helped desegregate public schools in the South.
He died of stomach cancer.

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Allegedly Gay Men
• Appeared on PBS' American Masters
• Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Members and Honorees [1973-2005] (Ranked: 1985)
• Blacklisted
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [August] (Ranked: 8021924)
• Civil Rights Activists
• Dick Cavett Show Guests
• Google Modified Its Logo For My Birthday (Google Doodles)
• Guggenheim Fellowship Grant Recipients
• I am a Citizen of France
• I am on a U.S. Postage Stamp [A-C]
• I Appeared in Jay-Z and Beyonce’s ‘Family Feud’ Video
• I Attended Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Funeral [April 9, 1968]
• I Died in 1987 (Ranked: 63)
• I Have Stomach Cancer
• I Made a Scene on The Dick Cavett Show
• I Write Bildungsroman
• I'm Buried at Ferncliff Cemetery [Hartsdale, NY]
• Influenced by Bayard Rustin
• Influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr
• Le Tigre's 'Hot Topic' References
• Look at Me, Oy Vey
• Modern Library's 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century (Ranked: 19)
• Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century [1998] (Ranked: 39)
• Profiles 13501-13750 (Ranked: 13670)
• Rainbow Honor Walk Inductees [San Francisco] (Ranked: 2014)
• Tim Meadows Impersonations
• Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels [Authors]
• Waiters
• Wieland Kalligaro's Profiles [Series 4]
• Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Pledge Signers [January 30, 1968]

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 45 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 61 Votes: 59.02% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 31 Votes: 51.61% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 42 Votes: 61.90% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 35 Votes: 31.43% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 35 Votes: 34.29% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 85 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 149 Votes: 56.38% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 225 Votes: 68.89% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 179 Votes: 68.72% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 55 Votes: 38.18% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 36 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 117 Votes: 60.68% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 164 Votes: 49.39% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 222 Votes: 50.90% Annoying