Executive editor's view.

Welcome to the dollhouse," is how literary agent Manie Barron greeted me when we first met in January. Indeed, that line aptly describes the world of black books--capricious and ever-changing, yet fiercely competitive.

In this, my first issue as executive editor, I quickly learned that pulling together a magazine requires more than just a love of books. It means learning the lay of the land--and in publishing that landscape is sometimes laden with minefields. Luckily, I inherited a wonderful staff who has helped me avoid the inevitable pitfalls. And I also had the good fortune to succeed, Susan McHenry, a mentor and an incredible editor whose footsteps will be hard to fill--so I won't try. Hopefully, I will leave my own mark on Black Issues Book Review, with the kind of stories about black books that inform, entertain and break new ground.

Thankfully, my transition has also been made smoother by working with writers I've known before: Pamela Johnson (the Paul and Alice Dunbar "Tribute"), and Elsie B. Washington (the Maya Angelou nonfiction review), were colleagues at Essence; and Angela Ards (the cover story) and Gary Dauphin (the bell hooks interview) were my contemporaries at The Village Voice.

So far, in my short tenure at BIBR, I have seen no let up in interest among our readers, and no sign that black authors are retreating from publishing. Instead, despite a slowing market overall, sales of books by black authors have been remarkably resilient. But then black folks have always embraced literature when it brings something meaningful to their lives. All of this has not gone unnoticed.

In the past few years, nearly every mainstream publisher has started a black imprint if they didn't already have one. And the self-publishing segment of the African-American book market, which for the most part operated outside publishing's establishment, has helped to launch many black writers' careers. If the '90s were a renaissance for black film, then the millennium ushered in the same for black books.

This issue of the magazine takes a look at a writer who is something of an institution in black publishing--Haki Madhubuti, the founder of Third World Press, which celebrates 35 years. (See page 42.) More than anything, Madhubuti is a testament to what it is to be dedicated to the African-American literary tradition. Over the years, black publishers have dwindled to a precious few, making Third World the oldest continuously operating independent black press.

Black Issues Book Review also takes a look at the increasing popularity of conspiracy books (page 38), especially among young black readers. In addition, we explore how satire has influenced black literature (page 26), and consider some contemporary examples from black writers, including Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed and Paul Beatty. Also in this issue is a preview of Maya Angelou's latest installment in her long-running memoir--A Song Flung Up to Heaven. And BIBR talks with feminist writer/academic/cultural critic bell hooks (page 50) about her new book, Communion: The Female Search for Love, the final episode in her trilogy of books on love.

In future issues, BIBR will introduce several new sections in the magazine, as well as special reports that will cover specific segments of the black-books market. We look forward to hearing from our readers, and hope that you will take the opportunity to tell us what you think. Feel free to write us at the address listed next to the masthead, or on our website at www.bibookreview.com.