The Butler: A Witness to History – Book

Description

CD – “The Story That Inspired the Major Motion Picture…Read by its Stars David Oyelowo Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey
When acclaimed “Washington Post “writer Wil Haygood had an early hunch that Obama would win the 2008 election he thought he’d highlight the singular moment by exploring the life of someone who had come of age when segregation was so embedded in the culture as to make the very thought of a black president inconceivable. He struck gold when he tracked down Eugene Allen a butler who had served eight presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan.
Forest Whitaker narrates the story of this remarkable man who while serving tea and supervising buffets was also a witness to history as decisions about America’s most momentous events were being made.
With a foreword by the Academy Award-nominated director Lee Daniels “The Butler “also includes Wil Haygood’s essay exploring the history of black images on celluloid and in Hollywood read here by David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey.

BOOK – “From Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow Wil Haygood comes a mesmerizing inquiry into the life of Eugene Allen the butler who ignited a nation’s imagination and inspired a major motion picture: “Lee Daniels’ The Butler ” the highly anticipated film that stars six Oscar winners including Forest Whitaker Oprah Winfrey (honorary and nominee) Jane Fonda Cuba Gooding Jr. Vanessa Redgrave and Robin Williams; as well as Oscar nominee Terrence Howard Mariah Carey John Cusack Lenny Kravitz James Marsden David Oyelowo Alex Pettyfer Alan Rickman and Liev Schreiber.
With a foreword by the Academy Award nominated director Lee Daniels “The Butler “not only explores Allen’s life and service to eight American Presidents from Truman to Reagan but also includes an essay in the vein of James Baldwin’s jewel “The Devil Finds Work ” that explores the history of black images on celluloid and in Hollywood and fifty-seven pictures of Eugene Allen his family the presidents he served and the remarkable cast of the movie.”(publisher)