Authors: James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room (23 page)
Fiction/Literature
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions affection, despair, and hope.
Fiction/Literature
NO NAME IN THE STREET
A searing memoir and an extraordinary history of the turbulent sixties and early seventies,
No Name in the Street
is James Baldwin's powerful commentary on the political and social agonies of America's contemporary history. The prophecies of
The Fire Next Time
have been tragically realized through assassinations, urban riots, and increased racial polarization and the hope for justice seems more elusive than ever. Through it all, Baldwin's uncompromising vision and his fierce disavowal of despair are ever present in this eloquent and personal testament to his times.
Nonfiction
NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME
Nobody Knows My Name
is a collection of illuminating, deeply felt essays on topics ranging from race relations in the United Statesâincluding a passionate attack on William Faulkner for his ambivalent views about the segregated South to the role of the writer in society, with personal accounts of such writers as Richard Wright and Norman Mailer.
Literature/African American Studies
TELL ME HOW LONG THE TRAIN'S BEEN GONE
In this magnificently passionate, angry, and tender novel, James Baldwin created one of his most striking characters, a man struggling to become himself even as he juggles multiple identities as black man, bisexual, and artist on the mercilessly floodlit stage of American public life. At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty. And everywhere there is the anguish of being black in a society that at times seems poised on the brink of total racial war.
Fiction/Literature
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