Description
Simon Baldwin by Herb Boyd
Baldwins Harlem is an intimateportrait of the life and genius of oneof our most brilliant literary minds: James Baldwin. Perhaps no other writer is as synonymous with Harlem as James Baldwin 1924-1987. The events there that shaped his youth greatly influenced Baldwins work much of which focused on his experiences as a black man in white America. Go Tell It on the Mountain The Fire Next Time Notes of a Native Son and Giovannis Room are just a few of his classic fiction and nonfiction books that remain an essential part of the American canon. In Baldwins Harlem award-winning journalist Herb Boyd combines impeccable biographical research with astute literary criticism and reveals to readers Baldwins association with Harlem on both metaphorical and realistic levels. For example Boyd describes Baldwins relationship with Harlem Renaissance poet laureate Countee Cullen who taught Baldwin French in the ninth grade. Packed with telling anecdotes Baldwins Harlem illuminates the writers diverse views and impressions of the community that would remain a consistent presence in virtually all of his writing. Baldwins Harlem provides an intelligent and enlightening look at one of Americas most important literary enclaves.show more