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Baldwin james - Collection Penguin classics

Parution le 23/02/2006

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Résumé

Contains essays that describe what it means to be black in America. This book describes the tragedies that are inflicted by racial segregation and presents a poignant account of the author's first journey to 'the Old Country', the Southern states.

Baldwin's early essays have been described as 'an unequalled meditation on what it means to be black in America' . This rich and stimulating collection contains 'Fifth Avenue, Uptown: a Letter from Harlem', polemical pieces on the tragedies inflicted by racial segregation and a poignant account of his first journey to 'the Old Country' , the southern states. Yet equally compelling are his 'Notes for a Hypothetical Novel' and personal reflections on being American, on oother major artists - Ingmar Bergman and Andre Gide, Norman Mailer and Richard Wright - and on the first great conferance of Negro - American writers and artists in Paris.

In his introduction Baldwin descrides the writer as requiring 'every ounce of stamina he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are' ; his uncanny ability to do just that is proclaimed on every page of this famous book.

Born in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, play wright, poet, social critic, and the author of more than twenty books. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain , appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay col lection The Fire Next Time was a bestseller that made him an influential figure in the civil rights movement. Baldwin spent many years in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in 1987.