Review of "King: A Life" by Jonathan Eig

Eig's biography of Martin Luther King Jr. is quite complete, and does not avoid controversial topics, such as King's frequent affairs, his fight against depression, and the lack of strategy in his approach to the civil rights movement.  However, neither does Eig do any significant analysis on these topics.  I'm not quite sure that egg doesn't shy away from the adultery: it is mentioned, and implied, but the word "adultery" is probably never used in the text, nor "affairs," nor "immorality."  It is admitted that King knew many women very closely, and the wording certainly hints at affairs and sexual activity, but that is actually never made explicit.  In terms of mental health, there is pretty much no analysis, except for mentions by friends and associates that king would be depressed, or down.  In terms of the strategy for the civil rights movement, Eig does admit that King came late to the game, and fell into a leadership role more by good luck than good management, but, again, there is no real thorough analysis of King's thinking in this regard, beyond his commitment to non-violence.  The material is certainly interesting, but an awful lot of the most interesting areas are simply left unexamined.

Rather late in the book, at a low point both in King's life, and in the civil rights movement, the biography details a particular sermon, by King, where he attempts to address criticisms levelled at him by asking American Christians to examine where they stood on their country, in relationship and comparison to God.  This point gives the book a major relation to our current times, where the religious right, in America, is supporting a man who doesn't even know whether or not he is a Christian, in opposition to one who demonstrably is, because the one who isn't a Christian is pandering to their fears, and concerns, about the nation, and the prosperity gospel.  The prosperity gospel is not entirely absent from the Bible, but it is far exceeded by the number of references to caring for "widows and orphans," which is biblical shorthand for the disadvantaged.  The Christian is supposed to be for God first, and only second for the country.  The American religious right is primarily for the country, and the politics of America First, and only secondarily for god, if it isn't too inconvenient.