Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Beacon Press, Boston
Date Published: 1963
Description: Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Some tanning/marking to the cover and page edges. A little shelf wear/light creasing to the cover edges and surface but still very much intact and untorn. Two light water stains on front cover. One or two spots on the page edges but, internally, they are tight and very clean. The spine is crease free and there are no inscriptions. All my books are carefully packed and I make every effort to despatch orders the same day. If you have any questions regarding this book ... read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
Date Published: 1964
Description: A good reading copy only. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Mass Market PaperBack, Good / read more
Description: Acceptable. Book shows wear to cover edges and spine. Writing in book. Marks on cover. Corners bent/rounded. Cover may have folds or creases. Otherwise in good reading condition. read more
Description: Acceptable. Book is in good reading condition. Cover has wear at edges and corners, and may have creases. Spine has wear at edges and may have creases. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Beacon
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. Yellowed pages, but book appears to be unread. Free, automatic1st class upgrade for books under 14 ounces. Free Priority upgrade to all domestic orders over $20.00. Satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam, NY
Date Published: 1964
Description: Good. Book. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Completely clean, tight text has slight fading; minute nicks on contents pg; covers have a reading & light spine crease, surface scuff on back. read more
"James Baldwin's reflections on feeling like an interloper while having to adopt a Euro-American cultural heritage are poignant and go a long way in describing why African diasporic cultural contributions are so popular and significant. While forced into co-opting a culture past not-their-own and applying a new aesthetics, African-Americans have forever changed the landscape of Western art and culture."
"Read the introduction as well as the 20 page essay that is also the book title.
I must have read Baldwin at a young age -- cannot now remember having done so.
The essay is powerful, powerful, powerful. Baldwin's writing is sparse, elemental, and surgical. He as no time for word play or oblique narrative flow. But neither is in a hurry to make a point. He gets right to it but then finds deeper and deeper kernels within and within and within the words and feelings.
The topic is the death of his father. But also how hatred and bitterness come as natural but are not voiceable by his father nor by him. If this essay doesn't give you a feel for how every black man (and perhaps most brown men) are really slow fusing bombs, than nothing will and you will have to go through life never understanding the potential spontaneous combustion of human beings.
There is a scene that I will never forget: He walks into a restaurant that he knows will not serve him, damages the restaurant when he is not served, and risks his life and the life of others with murderous rage.
There can be no doubt that for Baldwin the writing process is an attempted self-cure against the bitterness and hatred that infect his heart. And there is no doubt that his writing serves as a balm for us as well.
Read this essay and glimpse the power of a slow motion explosion shown in words.
Two criticisms:
1. In describing Africans, Baldwin falls to easy stereotypes. To me this shows that even the great black writers have, dare I say it, a kind of racism that comes from US exceptionalism.
2. His love for his country (apparent and claimed in the introduction) shows a lack of self-critical consciousness about world affairs."
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