The Spook Who Sat by the Door (novel)

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The Spook Who Sat by the Door
LC Class
PZ4.G8146 Sp PS3557.R396
Followed byBlues for an African Princess 

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1969), by

political subversion, and guerrilla warfare against the CIA. The novel has been characterised as "part thriller, part satire and part social commentary".[1] As described by The New Yorker, the title "alludes to the conspicuous deployment of the agency's one black officer to display its phony integration".[2]

The author, Sam Greenlee, was told by Aubrey Lewis (1935–2001), one of the first black

spy novel first was published by Allison & Busby in the UK in March 1969, after the author met Ghanaian-born editor Margaret Busby in London the previous year,[5] and in the US by the Richard W. Baron Publishing Company. It was subsequently translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Finnish, Swedish, and German.[5][6]

Summary

The Spook Who Sat by the Door is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in the Chicago of Mayor

black nationalist, successfully completes the training; of his recruitment class, he earned the highest grades and best marks for athleticism. Stationed in South Korea during the Korean War (1950–53), Freeman is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, especially judo; and played football at Michigan State University
.

Having become the first black man in the Central Intelligence Agency, Freeman is given a desk job – Section Chief of the Top Secret Reproduction Center. He understands that he is the

black middle class. Therefore, after completing his training in guerrilla warfare, weaponry, communications, and subversion
, Freeman continues working at the CIA long enough to avoid raising suspicion about his motives for resigning from the CIA; and then returns to Chicago to work providing social services to black people.

On returning to the city, Freeman communicates with the Cobras, a street gang previously immune to appeals from social-service agencies. Immediately, he begins recruiting young black men from the

non-violent
actions, set out to ensure that black people truly live freely in Chicago and the US. The "Freedom Fighters" of Chicago begin propaganda operations to tell the public about their guerrilla warfare throughout the US. To his guerrillas, Freeman says: "What we got now is a colony, what we want is a new nation." As armed revolt and war of liberation occur throughout the poor neighbourhoods of Chicago, the Illinois National Guard and the Chicago police desperately try to stop the black Freedom Fighters.

Learning the

City Hall building. Secondly, they paint a Negro alderman's car yellow and white. Thirdly, they take over radio stations and broadcast propaganda from "the Freedom Fighters, the Urban Underground of Black Chicago." Fourthly, they kidnap Colonel "Bull" Evans, the commander of the Illinois National Guard unit, drug him with LSD
, and then release him.

After the Freedom Fighters start sniper attacks, killing National Guardsmen, Dan Freeman is visited by three old friends, two women and a man. After speaking with his female friends, Freeman's final guest is Dawson, a friend and also a Chicago police sergeant. Suspicious of Freeman, Sergeant Dawson had secretly entered Freeman's apartment; his suspicion was verified when he found Freedom Fighter propaganda. After an argument, Freeman attacks Dawson and kills him. He then calls the ranking Freedom Fighters to dispose of Dawson's body. The story closes with Freeman ordering "Condition Red", which order activates guerrilla attack-teams in 12 cities throughout the USA.

Title and background

While using

racial slur for a Black person, and (ii) as an intelligence-agency jargon word for a spy.[7][8] The author also claimed a third layer of meaning for the novel's title: "that an armed revolution by Black people haunts White America, and has for centuries."[9]

"My experiences were identical to those of Freeman in the CIA," Greenlee, a former US Army officer and United States Information Agency officer told The Washington Post in 1973. "Everything in that book is an actual quote. If it wasn't said to me, I overheard it."[10]

The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a

oppression lived by African Americans in the United States. As such, the novel is a manual on how to be a successful revolutionary, by beating The System at their own game.[11] The character of "Dan Freeman" demonstrates the importance of co-operation among oppressed peoples in fighting for equality and freedom.[12] About the publication of the novel and the release of the film The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), directed by Ivan Dixon
, Greenlee said:

"One of the things I was saying with that book is that

gangs could become the protectors of the community rather than predators" and that "the purpose of the film was to encourage blacks to create an action plan to 'survive in the belly of the beast', rather than always reacting as victims of a racist society."[12]

Close collaboration between film director Ivan Dixon and screenplay writer Sam Greenlee realised a cinematic representation that did not lose or lessen the strong social analyses and encouragement to revolution in the novel.

In 2022, the novel's title and plot were referenced in "

comedy-drama television series Atlanta.[13]

Historical context

The political atmosphere of the United States was especially restless in 1969, the year of publication of The Spook Who Sat by the Door, because the contentious politics for

gay rights movements had become visible in the public sphere. Sociologically, it is suggested that the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) – whose symbol was a seven-headed cobra – were influenced in their choice of name by Greenlee's use, in the novel, of the word symbiology, a term derived from the biological term symbiosis, which describes disparate organisms living together in a mutually beneficial relationship.[14][15]

The original UK book-jacket for The Spook Who Sat by the Door carried endorsements by the political activist Dick Gregory, who called the novel "an important, original, nitty-gritty book"; by the novelist Len Deighton, who said that the book would "cause many readers great annoyance – and, what more can a writer ask, than that?"; and by the writer Stephen Vizinczey, who said the story is "in the manner of the best thrillers, the hero's life is always in danger, and there are women about who undress with passion, but might give him away. Still, there is more at stake than the hero's life or the reader's entertainment – this first-class thriller is also a genuine novel, which is not only exciting, but moving, as it unfolds the black man's dream, the white man's nightmare."[16][5]

In Britain the novel's publication by Allison and Busby received much critical attention, including extracts being printed in The Observer magazine; however, Sam Greenlee later noted: "In contrast to more than one hundred reviews in Britain, most of them favourable, my novel was all but ignored by the American literary establishment."[6]

Described as "the first black nationalist novel", The Spook Who Sat by the Door is also regarded as having inspired the "Blaxploitation" genre of films in the 1970s.[17]

Adaptations

The book was adapted into the 1973 film of the same name, which was directed by Ivan Dixon from a screenplay co-written by Greenlee with Melvin Clay.[18]

In August 2018, it was announced that

Fox 21 Television Studios.[19] Leigh Dana Jackson was named in 2019 as the writer adapting the work for television.[20] A pilot was ordered by FX in February 2021.[21]

On 14 April 2021, actress Christina Jackson was reported to be cast in a leading role for the FX pilot of The Spook Who Sat by the Door. She will play Joy Freeman, wife of Dan Freeman (portrayed by series lead Y'lan Noel), described as an up-and-coming attorney committed to making a difference in her community.[22]

In February 2022, it was reported that the pilot would not be moving forward but FX would redevelop the project.[23]

Controversy

J. M. Berger of the

racist language against whites, "the book tends to get a pass on racism," and that "[w]hites in The Spook Who Sat by the Door are either overt racists or barely covert racists, without exception. No exchange between Freeman and a white character takes place without an expression of hostility and a critical racial commentary, sometimes nuanced, sometimes less so."[24] The book also may be considered extremist in nature, as Greenlee stated that "[i]t's a training manual for guerrilla warfare[....]"[24]

Bibliography

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ^ Bates, Karen Grigsby (22 May 2014). "Remembering Sam Greenlee Through His Most Famous Book". NPR.
  2. ^ Brody, Richard (20 July 2018). "The Troubling Fate of a 1973 Film About the First Black Man in the C.I.A." The New Yorker.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Richard (13 December 2001). "Aubrey Lewis, 66, Athlete Who Was an F.B.I. Pioneer". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Reese, Gregg (22 May 2014). "Radical novelist Sam Greenlee dies at 83". Our Weekly. Los Angeles.
  5. ^ a b c Busby, Margaret (2 June 2014). "Sam Greenlee obituary". The Guardian.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780253031808
    .
  7. ^ Macon, Wanda (1997). "The Spook Who Sat by the Door". Oxford Companion to African American Literature. p. 327.
  8. ^ Guzman, Richard (20 February 2015), "Sam Greenlee: Spooks Sitting by Doors", Richard R. Guzman.
  9. ^ Peart, Andrew (27 February 2023). "'I won't have anything to do with amoral dudes': Sam Greenlee, X'57, distinguished himself as a Foreign Service Officer, then found his true mission as a writer ready to challenge readers". UChicago News. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  10. ^ Schudel, Matt (26 May 2014). "Sam Greenlee: US novelist whose time in the Foreign Service informed the book and cult film 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door'". The Independent.
  11. ^ Peavy, Charles D. (December 1970). "Four Black Revolutionary Novels, 1899–1970". Journal of Black Studies. 1: 222.
  12. ^ a b Joiner, Lottie L. (November/December 2003), "After 30 years, a Controversial Film Re-Emerges", The Crisis, p. 41.
  13. ^ Touré (28 October 2022). "'Atlanta' review, episode 8: Is this a metaphor for the whole show?". The Griot. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  14. ^ Newton, Michael (2007), "Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)", Encyclopedia of Robberies, Heists, and Capers. New York: Facts On File, Inc. American History Online. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  15. ^ Ellenberg, Al (1974). "Introduction". Abduction: Fiction Before Fact. Grove Press.
  16. ^ Jacket of Allison & Busby hardback first edition, London, UK, 1969.
  17. ^ Feinstein, Sascha, and David Rife (eds), "Authors' biographies | Sam Greenlee", The Jazz Fiction Anthology, Indiana University Press, 2009, p. 502.
  18. ^ "The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)" at IMDb.
  19. ^ Petski, Denise (15 August 2018). "Lee Daniels Entertainment Options Spy Novel 'The Spook Who Sat By The Door' For Series Development With Fox 21". Deadline Hollywood.
  20. ^ "'The Spook Who Sat By The Door' Series From Lee Daniels And Fox 21 Lands At FX For Development", Shadow and Act, September 24, 2019.
  21. ^ White, Peter (8 February 2021). "FX To Pilot 'The Spook Who Sat By The Door' From Lee Daniels, Leigh Dana Jackson & Gerard McMurray". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  22. ^ Otterson, Joe (14 April 2021). "Christina Jackson Joins FX Pilot 'Spook Who Sat by the Door'". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  23. ^ Ausiello, Michael (18 February 2022). "FX Spy Drama Starring Y'lan Noel, Lucas Till Not Moving Forward". TVLine. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  24. ^ a b Berger, J.M. (16 September 2016). "The Turner Legacy: The Storied Origins and Enduring Impact of White Nationalism's Deadly Bible". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

External links

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