'The story of the negro in America is the story of America ... it is not a very pretty story'

James Baldwin's breakthrough essay collection made him the voice of his generation. Ranging over Harlem in the 1940s, movies, novels, his preacher father and his experiences of Paris, they capture the complexity of black life at the dawn of the civil rights movement with effervescent wit and prophetic wisdom.

'A classic ... In a divided America, James Baldwin's fiery critiques reverberate anew' Washington Post

'Edgy and provocative, entertainingly satirical' Robert McCrum, Guardian

'Cemented his reputation as a cultural seer ... Notes of a Native Son endures as his defining work, and his greatest' Time

A breakthrough work of social and cultural criticism from one of the foremost intellectuals of his era.

About the Author
James Baldwin was born in 1924 in New York. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), which evokes his experiences as a boy preacher in Harlem, was an immediate success. Baldwin's second novel, Giovanni's Room (1956) has become a landmark of gay literature and Another Country (1962) caused a literary sensation. His searing essay collections Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Nobody Knows My Name (1961) contain many of the works that made him an influential figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Baldwin published several other collections of non-fiction, including The Fire Next Time (1963) and No Name in the Street (1972). His short stories are collected in Going to Meet the Man (1965). His later works include the novels Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968), If Beale Street Could Talk (1973) and Just Above My Head (1979). James Baldwin won a number of literary fellowships: a Eugene F. Saxon Memorial Trust Award, a Rosenwald Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Partisan Review Fellowship and a Ford Foundation grant. He was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour in 1986. He died in 1987 in France

Reviews
A straight-from-the-shoulder writer, writing about the troubled problems of this troubled earth with an illuminating intensity that should influence for the better all who ponder on the things books say -- Langston Hughes * The New York Times *
Powerful . . . I wish I could press this book into the hands of every American - actually, every human. -- Celeste Ng * Guardian *
Edgy and provocative . . . entertainingly satirical -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *
A classic . . . Take the words out of the 1950s, when they were published, and they could apply to the women in pink hats, the scientists, the Black Lives Matter activists, the climate-change believers and the LGBTQ-rights supporters who have flooded the streets of Washington this year * Washington Post *
A classic ... In a divided America, James Baldwin's fiery critiques reverberate anew * Washington Post *
Cemented his reputation as a cultural seer ... Notes of a Native Son endures as his defining work, and his greatest * Time *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241334003
Author James Baldwin
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 157g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 12mm