James Baldwin: The Life Album (Black Lives)

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Synopsis
An intimate portrait of James Baldwin, offering a new understanding of his life and works as seen through his close relationships and private life James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, an influential author, intellectual, and activist who led a celebrated public life—and whose words and image and persona remain current in our culture. Baldwin&’s many incarnations—&“son of Harlem,&” &“Black icon,&” &“great twentieth-century writer,&” &“race man,&” &“prophet,&” &“witness&”—have reemerged in the digital age as Baldwin&’s work becomes a touchstone for a new generation. It is the private, vulnerable, and messier Baldwin—the man behind the prophet and the online meme—who is the focus of this book. Magdalena J. Zaborowska draws on Baldwin&’s archives and material legacy—from his unpublished papers to his books to his house in France—to offer a fresh look at the writer&’s understated and obscured private life. Taking a cue from Baldwin&’s own love of the blues, Zaborowska presents his biography as a series of tracks on a vinyl record, introducing, developing, and remixing the themes and relationships from his life. She recounts episodes from Baldwin&’s troubled childhood, his struggles with sexuality and gender, his intimate relationships, and the overlooked influence of women, Jews, and queers on his writing. This Life Album revolves around Baldwin&’s development of a unique worldview, &“Black queer humanism,&” premised on African diaspora aesthetics, resilience, joy, community, internationalism, activism, and justice.
Copyright:
2025

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780300281637
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Magdalena J. Zaborowska.
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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