Baldwin, James

Baldwin, James (1924–87), born in Harlem, where for a short time in his youth he followed his father's footsteps as a preacher, and, as he says, “the rhetoric of the storefront church” has been among the influences on his prose. He left home at the age of 17 and subsequent travels included long expatriation in France. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), about a day in the lives of various members of a Harlem church and, through flashbacks, about their forebears, was immediately hailed as a major treatment of black life in the U.S. and helped to establish Baldwin as the leading black novelist since Richard Wright. His second novel, Giovanni's Room (1956), was set in his new residence of Paris and concerned a man torn between homosexual love and love of a woman. His third novel, Another Country (1962), is a lengthy tale of complex human relations between races and sexes. His next novel, Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968), about a black actor recalling his youth in Harlem and his dramatic career, is by implication an assessment of the situation of American blacks. If Beale Street Could Talk (1974) is a novel about a pregnant young woman's struggle to free her falsely imprisoned fiancé. Just Above My Head (1979), Baldwin's sixth novel, retrospectively treats the life of a Harlem gospel singer as he and his family search for their identities and for salvation. Baldwin's nonfiction includes Notes of a Native Son (1955), containing personal essays, reminiscences of Harlem life, his harsh view of Richard Wright, and consideration of the situation of Northern black intellectuals; Nobody Knows My Name (1961), intense personal essays on race relations, the relation of the artist to society, and his views of other authors; The Fire Next Time (1963), two “letters” vigorously describing the state of the black in the U.S. through his own youthful experiences and his encounter with the Black Muslim movement; No Name in the Street (1972), autobiographical fragments and an assessment of race relations in the U.S.; and The Devil Finds Work (1976), an essay about blacks and American films. He also wrote plays, including Blues for Mister Charley (1964), about the antagonism between the Negro and the white man (generically called “Mr. Charley”), which depicts a black boy who has become a successful singer in New York but also a drug addict and who, upon returning to his Southern home to start life anew, is murdered by a white man; The Amen Corner (1964) is concerned with a woman evangelist torn between religious fanaticism and love of her footloose, jazz‐playing husband. Going To Meet the Man (1965) is a collection of short stories.