Title: Life Doesn't Frighten Me
Author: Angelou, Maya and Jean-Michel Basquiat and Sara Jane Boyers
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (1993)
ISBN: 1556702884
32 pgs.
Notes: Sara Jane Boyers pairs together Maya Angelou’s poetry verses with Jean-Michel Basquiat’s modern artwork in this book, suited for children in grades three to six.

Title: Jean-Michel Basquiat
Author: Basquiat, Jean-Michel and Luca Marenzi
Publisher: Charta (1999)
ISBN: 8881582392
280 pgs.
Notes: This Italian catalog features reproductions of major Basquiat pieces, as well as portrait photographs of the artist himself, a chronology of his life, and essays and interviews written in Italian and English.

Title: Black Popular Culture
Author: Dent, Gina
Publisher: New Press (1998)
ISBN: 1565844599
373 pgs.
Notes: Winner of the Village Voice Best Book of the Year, Gina Dent’s work offers timely discourses on a variety of cultural issues, such as urban planning and literature.

Title: Jean-Michel Basquiat
Author: Emmerling, Leonhard
Publisher: Taschen Deutschland (2003)
ISBN: 3822816361
96 pgs.
Notes: Emmerling documents Basquiat’s life, from his time on the streets to his early struggle sin the art world. The author also presents his relationships with agents, promoters, and Andy Warhol, as well as with ultimately fatal drugs.

Title: Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell
Author: Golden, Jane
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781566399517
160 pgs.
Notes: In 1984, Jane Golden and dozens of artists, community members, and volunteers began the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Since then, the exercise in fighting graffiti has adorned Philadelphia with more than 2,000 murals. This book presents a behind-the-scenes look at the mural and how the artwork gives communities—and their residents—new ways of identifying themselves.

Title: Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art
Author: Hoban, Phoebe
Publisher: Penguin (2004)
ISBN: 9780143035121
416 pgs.
Notes: Hoban presents a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat through interviewing the dealers, collectors, friends, lovers, paintings, and drawings left behind after Basquiat’s overdose at the age of 27. The story of his celebrity is the main theme of the book, rather than the artist’s childhood with his unstable mother and punishing father.

Title: Reel to Real: Race, Sex and Class at the Movies
Author: hooks, bell
Publisher: Routledge (2008)
ISBN: 0415964806
312 pgs.
Notes: The essays in Reel to Real present a criticism of culture as viewed through film and are a mix of theory, popular art, reality, and criticism presented through reviews and public reactions. Movies included in the discussion include Quentin Tarantino’s films, waiting to Exhale, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, and more.

Title: Connecting People With Art: African American Art
Author: Redcross, Evelyn and Mercer Redcross
Publisher: October Gallery (2006)
ISBN: 097906550X
502 pgs.
Notes: In an account of how the October Gallery in Germantown evolved over time, patrons and artists were asked the question, “What is the value of African American art to you?” The personal responses are included throughout the story.

Title: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
Author: Thompson, Don
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (2008)
ISBN: 0230610226
272 pgs.
Notes: Thompson explores the world of money and art while drawing on interviews with executives from auction houses, art dealers, artists, and the buyers who move the market. The book also delves into what makes a particular piece of art valuable while others are ignored.

Title: Seven Days in the Art World
Author: Thornton, Sarah
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (2008)
ISBN: 039306722X
256 pgs.
Notes: Thornton, a sociologist, argues that the contemporary world of art is held together by the single belief (feigned or genuine) that nothing is more important than the art itself. She explores the status-driven world of art and how the conviction has transformed contemporary art.