Baldwin, James (redirected from James Baldwin)

Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem and at 14 became a preacher in the Fireside Pentecostal Church. His first two novels, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), reflecting his experience as a young preacher, and Giovanni's Room (1956), which dealt with his homosexuality, were written while he lived in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1957 and participated in the civil-rights movement, later returning to France where he lived for the remainder of his life. Another Country (1962), a bitter novel about sexual relations and racial tension, received critical acclaim, as did the publication of the perceptive essays in The Fire Next Time (1963). His eloquence and unsparing honesty made Baldwin one of the most influential authors of his time. Other works include the play Blues for Mr. Charlie (1964); a volume of short stories, Going to Meet the Man (1964); If Beale Street Could Talk (1974), the story of a young black couple victimized by the judicial system; and Just Above My Head (1979). Collections of essays include Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Price of a Ticket (1985).

Bibliography

See biographies by W. J. Wetherby (1989), J. Campbell (1991), and D. Leeming (1994); studies by L. H. Pratt (1985) and H. A. Porter (1989).

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Baldwin, James (Arthur)

James Baldwin

(credit: UPI)

(born Aug. 2, 1924, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 1, 1987, Saint-Paul, France) U.S. essayist, novelist, and playwright. He grew up in poverty in the New York City district of Harlem and became a preacher while in his teens. After 1948 he lived alternately in France and the U.S. His semiautobiographical first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), regarded as his finest, was followed by the essay collections Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Nobody Knows My Name (1961); the novels Giovanni's Room (1956), a story of homosexual life, and Another Country (1962); the long polemical essay The Fire Next Time (1963), prophesying widespread racial violence; and the play Blues for Mister Charlie (produced 1964). His eloquence and passion on the subject of race made him for years perhaps the country's most prominent black writer.

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Baldwin, James (Arthur) (1924–87) writer; born in Harlem, N.Y. Son of a preacher, as a teenager he himself was a preacher in a Harlem pentecostal church. After high school he began publishing polemical essays on the black experience in journals including The Nation and Commentary. Supported largely by fellowships, he began writing fiction in Paris (1948–56). His first novels, the autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and Giovanni's Room (1956) established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes dealt with in later works, such as racism and homosexuality. In the U.S.A. (1957–1970s) he became a civil rights activist, and, through his essays, plays, and lectures, something of a celebrity as a spokesman for angry African-Americans. His novels include Another Country (1962), Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968), and Just Above My Head (1979). His essays were collected in several volumes including Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), The Fire Next Time (1963), and The Price of a Ticket (1985). His plays include The Amen Corner (produced 1955), Blues for Mister Charlie (1964). He lived in France during his last years, although he returned to the U.S.A. to hold special academic appointments.