James Baldwin

Growing up African American in the middle part of the twentieth century, James Baldwin saw firsthand the ugly racism tha... (more)

Growing up African American in the middle part of the twentieth century, James Baldwin saw firsthand the ugly racism that scarred the United States. Further complicating his identity was the fact that he was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was a crime in almost all states. Baldwin turned his struggles into art, writing the semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell It on the Mountain; the essay collection Notes of a Native Son; and the controversial novel Giovanni's Room, among many other works. He was an active participant in America's civil rights movement, yet he often was kept at a distance by top leaders because of his sexuality. This volume captures the remarkable life of James Baldwin, an activist and writer who gave voice to so many, when they couldn't speak for themselves. (less)

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of James Baldwin. (more)

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of James Baldwin. (less)

Never before available, the unexpurgated last interview with James Baldwin "I was not born to be what someone said I was... (more)

Never before available, the unexpurgated last interview with James Baldwin "I was not born to be what someone said I was. I was not born to be defined by someone else, but by myself, and myself only." When, in the fall of 1987, the poet Quincy Troupe traveled to the south of France to interview James Baldwin, Baldwin's brother David told him to ask Baldwin about everything'Baldwin was critically ill and David knew that this might be the writer's last chance to speak at length about his life and work. The result is one of the most eloquent and revelatory interviews of Baldwin's career, a conversation that ranges widely over such topics as his childhood in Harlem, his close friendship with Miles Davis, his relationship with writers like Toni Morrison and Richard Wright, his years in France, and his ever-incisive thoughts on the history of race relations and the African-American experience. Also collected here are significant interviews from other moments in Baldwin's life, including an in-depth interview conducted by Studs Terkel shortly after the publication of Nobody Knows My Name. These interviews showcase, above all, Baldwin's fearlessness and integrity as a writer, thinker, and individual, as well as the profound struggles he faced along the way. (less)

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