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A brief introduction to Alex Palmer Haley (1921- 1992) American biographer, scriptwriter, and novelist, whose most famous work is ROOTS, a publishing phenomenon and international bestseller. Haley traced in it his ancestry back to Africa and covered seven American generations, starting from his ancestor, Kunta Kinte. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in genealogy, particularly among African-Americans. Haley himself commented that the novel was not so much history as a study of mythmaking: What Roots gets at in whatever form, is that it touches the pulse of how alike we human beings are when you get down to the bottom, beneath these man-imposed differences. When Roots appeared in 1976, it gained both critical and popular success, although the truth and originality of the book raised some doubts. James Baldwin concluded in his New York Times review, that the novel suggests how each of us are vehicle of the history which have produced us. On the other hand - representing a minority opinion - Michael Arled dismissed the book and television series as Haleys own fantasies about going home. The story starts from Juffure, a small peaceful village in West Africa in 1750, and ends in Gambia, in the same village, after several generations. However, Haley did not claim that it is possible to return to some Paradise, but depicted realistically his ancestors life and how the villagers suffered occasionally from shortage of food. Greenwich Village Greenwich Village (pronounced /?ɡr?n?t? ?v?l?d?/), often simply called the Village, is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families. Pulitzer Prize A Pulitzer Prize is an American prize awarded for distinction in the arts. The Pulitzer Prizes are particularly associated with journalism, but prizes are also awarded in the fields of music and literature. A win is a great honor, especiall