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James Baldwin
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James Baldwin : Collected Essays : Notes of a Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays (Library of America) Hardcover – February 1, 1998

by James Baldwin (Author), Toni Morrison (Editor)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 1,414 ratings
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Toni Morrison's definitive edition of James Baldwin's incomparable nonfiction.

Contains all the major essays collections in their entirety, plus 36 uncollected essays.

James Baldwin was a uniquely prophetic voice in American letters. His brilliant and provocative essays made him the literary voice of the Civil Rights Era, and they continue to speak with powerful urgency to us today, whether in the swirling debate over the Black Lives Matter movement or in the words of Raoul Peck's documentary "I Am Not Your Negro." Edited by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, the Library of America's Collected Essays is the most comprehensive gathering of Baldwin's nonfiction ever published.

With burning passion and jabbing, epigrammatic wit, Baldwin fearlessly articulated issues of race and democracy and American identity in such famous essays as "The Harlem Ghetto," "Everybody's Protest Novel," "Many Thousands Gone," and "Stranger in the Village." Here are the complete texts of his early landmark collections, Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Nobody Knows My Name (1961), which established him as an essential intellectual voice of his time, fusing in unique fashion the personal, the literary, and the political.

The classic The Fire Next Time (1963), perhaps the most influential of his writings, is his most penetrating analysis of America's racial divide and an impassioned call to "end the racial nightmare...and change the history of the world." The later volumes No Name in the Street (1972) and The Devil Finds Work (1976) chart his continuing response to the social and political turbulence of his era and include his remarkable works of film criticism. A further 36 essays—nine of them previously uncollected—include some of Baldwin's earliest published writings, as well as revealing later insights into the language of Shakespeare, the poetry of Langston Hughes, and the music of Earl Hines.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
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  1. Print length
    869 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Library of America
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 1.1 x 8.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1883011523
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1883011529
  8. See all details
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James Baldwin: Collected Essays (LOA #98) James Baldwin: Early Novels & Stories (LOA #97) James Baldwin: Later Novels (LOA #272)
James Baldwin: Collected Essays (LOA #98) James Baldwin: Early Novels & Stories (LOA #97) James Baldwin: Later Novels (LOA #272)
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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Price $33.49 $28.99 $32.02
Deluxe hardcover volumes Edited by Toni Morrison, this is the most comprehensive edition of Baldwin's nonfiction ever published, including the complete texts of Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, and The Devil Finds Work. The fiction that established Baldwin's reputation as a writer of unblinking realism and rare verbal eloquence, including the novels Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, and Another Country and the story collection Going to Meet the Man. Library of America completes its edition of James Baldwin’s collected fiction with this volume gathering three revealing works of the late 1960s and 1970s: Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Just Above My Head.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Writer James Baldwin earnestly championed the civil rights movement in both his fiction and nonfiction, a fact which, coupled with his extraordinary writing talent, assured not only his historical importance, but also his place as one of the finest African American writers of his generation. Collected Essays is a comprehensive collection of his most memorable prose, including "Stranger in the Village," "The Harlem Ghetto," and "Many Thousands Gone." Clear in voice and vision, the essays communicate the emotions of an entire historical movement. Combining politics, prophecy, and passion, Baldwin's essays are truly as thought-provoking today as they were some 30 years ago.

From Publishers Weekly

Baldwin's impassioned essays have been at least as influential as his novels in exposing the racial polarization of American society. This massive compilation reproduces in their entirety his early essay collections?Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), The Fire Next Time (1963)?as well as his later, less successful book-length essays?the pessimistic, doom-laden No Name in the Street (1972) and The Devil Finds Work (1976), a semi-autobiographical gloss on American movies. The book charts his trajectory from eloquent voice of the civil rights movement to disillusioned expatriate increasingly prone to grandiloquence and angry rhetoric. Also included is a miscellany of 36 articles, polemics and reviews, 26 of which were previously collected in The Price of the Ticket (1985), published just two years before Baldwin's death from cancer in France at age 63. Novelist Morrison's editing of this omnibus, which includes a chronology and notes, should help rekindle interest in Baldwin, whose recurrent themes?the African American search for identity, the hypocrisy of white America, the urgent necessity for love?make his work timely and challenging. BOMC and Reader's Subscription selections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Library of America (February 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 869 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1883011523
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1883011529
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 1.1 x 8.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 1,414 ratings

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James Baldwin

James Baldwin

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James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic, and one of America's foremost writers. His essays, such as "Notes of a Native Son" (1955), explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-twentieth-century America. A Harlem, New York, native, he primarily made his home in the south of France.

His novels include Giovanni's Room (1956), about a white American expatriate who must come to terms with his homosexuality, and Another Country (1962), about racial and gay sexual tensions among New York intellectuals. His inclusion of gay themes resulted in much savage criticism from the black community. Going to Meet the Man (1965) and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968) provided powerful descriptions of American racism. As an openly gay man, he became increasingly outspoken in condemning discrimination against lesbian and gay people.

Photo by Allan warren (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
1,414 global ratings
Primer for the Struggle against Oppression
5 Stars
Primer for the Struggle against Oppression
This entire, brilliant collection of one of the greatest essayists of the 20th century can’t help but fill me with unrestrained joy.I received the entire collection for my birthday and can’t put either volume down ever since I unwrapped them Two focus on his fiction, both early and later while the last contains his essays.Aphorisms and biting insights abound in every volume and it truly is a sublime experience. From his first short story, “Previous Condition” to his final novel, “Just Above My Head” we’re taken on a journey through the brutal realities of Black life in America to the sunny adventures in the City of Light. Lurking behind all of his work lies a hard-won wisdom waiting for those fighting for social justice to use like a shipwreck of buried treasure.
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Top reviews from the United States

Jay C. Dillon Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent condition, fast service
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2024
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This is a beautiful volume of essays by the great James Baldwin, in perfect condition, and it arrived well packaged and protected. Fast service. Thank you very much!
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marta borges
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant essays by a brilliant author
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2023
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In a world where racism, identity issues, "white mythologies" and freedom of speech are at the center of the debate, James Baldwin is an author that one should revisit, for the pleasure of reading wonderful prose and being confronted with an insightful mindset.
2 people found this helpful
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sans woz
5.0 out of 5 stars He woke me up
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2020
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On the advice of a friend I bought this collection and started with The Fire Next Time. After reading the opening "My Dungeon Shook" I was stunned into absolute stillness. I knew what I had just read was truly the work of a genius, and I realized the concept of America as I understood it was missing a large piece of its reality, and Baldwin was the man who caused the scales to fall from my eyes.

There really isn't a parallel I can draw that would describe the sensation of realizing that, having grown up in a nearly all-white town, and having almost exclusively white friends, I was living my life blithely unaware of the reality of millions of my fellow Americans. It's been more of Baldwin's writing that made me aware that the racism that was bred into me, by basically neglecting other races' realities, was kept hidden from my conscious mind by design; as well as the fact that it's harmful to all races (my own included) when we allow racism to run unchecked through our veins.

To cut it down to a shoutable slogan, take his words: Black men don't have mid-life crises. It is immediately understandable what that means; they were never promised that the world was theirs' for the taking. They weren't told they could be anything they wanted when they were young the way I was. And therefore when they're in their mid-thirties they don't have an existential crisis because they aren't wealthy and famous. This is a white phenomenon. The same reason goes for why white men take the lead in suicides and deaths of despair. When a group of people are raised believing they deserve a larger piece of the pie than another group of people... it never ends well; for themselves, or for those who feel their wrath when they realize they're just another working stiff.

And these revelations were just the beginning of what I have learned from Baldwin. I'd also add the book The Radical King to a reading list if someone asked me about these topics. These should be required reading in my opinion.
55 people found this helpful
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johnm
5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best essays around
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2022
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I'd heard about James Baldwin, and I read some of his fiction, but he is at his best as an essayist. Clear, concise, insightful, and just a great writer. If you want to read some really excellent writing, this is the guy and this is the book. The topics are once again timely even if 40-50 years have gone by. He nails it, and even on the other topics, his writing is spot on. You will learn not just about the topic, but about how well someone can write about it. Read and learn
5 people found this helpful
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Wally
5.0 out of 5 stars You think you know, but you don't. Baldwin's precise, beautiful--terrible--prose teaches truth.
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2021
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You think you understand something of what it is to be black in America. If you're not black, reading--listening--to Baldwin's essays will first, break your heart. It will also make you angry that our efforts to end racism fall so far short. Why can't we fix this? Why can't we end racism. "Race" is a completely artificial construct. We made it up. We tell millions of people--children, women, men--that they are less, they are inferior because of the amount of melanin in their skin compared to ours. We reinforce that message in every way, endlessly. We have sinned, and we continue to soft-pedal what we've done to our fellow Americans. White Americans will never be free until black Americans are recognized as equals.
4 people found this helpful
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Elliot N
5.0 out of 5 stars Stuff we need to learn
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2021
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Baldwin was impressively insightful. He explained a great deal about racism that I (an old white man) had a good hunch about but did not fully understand -- especially not the "why" and the "how".
The scary part is that Baldwin wrote this all down for us half a century ago, yet we did nothing to correct it. Hopefully, that is beginning to happen now.
Highly recommended for all "us honkys".
Just be aware that Baldwin wrote in long and complex sentences, so it may take you a chapter or two before you are up to speed on his style. Very much worth the effort, though, and as a bonus you will learn better English just from reading him.
5 people found this helpful
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Fulani Sutherland
5.0 out of 5 stars Sent with great care
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2023
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The book was really well packaged to avoid any damage in transit. Great condition.
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Paul S. Jellinek
5.0 out of 5 stars Blown away by the sheer brilliance and power of his writing
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2017
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I'd read Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" a few years ago in one of the Library of America's volumes of reporting on the civil rights movement and was blown away by the sheer brilliance and power of his writing. "The Fire Next Time" is included in this collection, but there's a whole lot more here, much of it every bit as powerful as "Fire." There's an intensity to Baldwin's essays that forces you to confront many of the terrible truths that lie just below the surface of American life but that we must face up to if we are ever to realize the true vision embodied in America's founding principles. In some respects, it may appear that we've made progress since Baldwin wrote these essays, but I'm sure that if he were still with us, he'd be the first to point out that much of that progress is in fact superficial and illusory, and that we've still got a very long way to go.
3 people found this helpful
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TaniaDavid
5.0 out of 5 stars The classics
Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2020
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Awesone author. If you are unfamiliar with James Baldwin's work, this book contains most of the essays one should start with.
I must say, he had quite the crystal ball in front of him when he wrote these essays. Very insightful...
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Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera
5.0 out of 5 stars A modern Humanist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2019
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James Baldwin is the closest there is to George Orwell in the second part of the XXth Century, and has a range that makes all aspirants to write amaze, and his fellow writers simply pale. He is a superb novelist - see the plot of If Beale St could talk, recently made into an Oscar winning movie. But it is in his essays where he shines more. His various autobiographical notes put you right in the America of the sixties. His comments on race discrimitation (and violence) are the best written pieces on the racism of the Century. And YouTube allows us to see his many dissertations and TV debates, where he was always pitch-perfect, never beaten.
As a coda - see I'm not your Negro after reading his books and try not to ask yourself over and over again, as he does repeatedly: what's the matter with human beings?
12 people found this helpful
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Awesomecooking
5.0 out of 5 stars Un biijou
Reviewed in France on June 16, 2017
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Je vous recommande d'acheter les 3 tomes: ces textes sont simplement magnifiques. Ces textes vous accompagne, vous poussent à sortir des sentiers battus.
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RYAN FIENNES
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Editions
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2021
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The Library of America Hardback edition books are great value: They normally contain a number of stories by the author; sometimes essays; and sometimes autobiographies.
They have quality binding, with acid free paper, and offer work by a number of very important writers. Along with the Everyman's Library Classics Editions - they are my favourite book editions.
3 people found this helpful
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Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical read!
Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2018
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This volume is an excellent historical read. It’s is timesless given that Balwinn’s voice speaks of the past political movements surrounding Dr., Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and one can draw references to use towards today’s social conflictions that are similarly evident still.
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