Conversations with James Baldwin

Fred R. Standley

ISBN 10: 0878053891 / ISBN 13: 9780878053896

Published by University Press of Mississippi, US, 1989

About this Item

This collection of interviews with James Baldwin covers the period 1961-1987, from the year of the publication of Nobody Knows My Names, his fourth book, to just a few weeks before his death. It includes the last formal conversation with him.Twenty-seven interviews reprinted here come from a variety of sources--newspapers, radio, journals, and review--and show this celebrated author in all his eloquence, anger, and perception of racial, social, and literary situations in America.Over the years Baldwin proved to be an easily accessible and cooperative subject for interviews, both in the United States and abroad. He frequently referred to himself as ""a kind of trans-Atlantic commuter."" Whether candidly discussing his own ghetto origins, his literary mission and achievements, his role in the civil rights movement, or his views on world affairs, black and white relations, Vietnam, Christianity, and fellow writers, Baldwin was always both popular and controversial.This important collection contributes significantly to the clarification and expansion of the ideas in Baldwin's fiction, drama, essays, and poetry. It gives additional life to a stunning orator and major literary figure who considered himself a sojourner even in his own country. Yet early in his career Baldwin told Studs Terkel: ""I am an American writer. This country is my subject.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780878053896

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Conversations with James Baldwin
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi, US
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0878053891
• ISBN 13: 9780878053896
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 1.98H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 1.98 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 482 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This collection of interviews with James Baldwin covers the period 1961-1987, from the year of the publication of Nobody Knows My Names, his fourth book, to just a few weeks before his death. It includes the last formal conversation with him.

Twenty-seven interviews reprinted here come from a variety of sources―newspapers, radio, journals, and review―and show this celebrated author in all his eloquence, anger, and perception of racial, social, and literary situations in America.

Over the years Baldwin proved to be an easily accessible and cooperative subject for interviews, both in the United States and abroad. He frequently referred to himself as “a kind of transatlantic commuter.” Whether candidly discussing his own ghetto origins, his literary mission and achievements, his role in the civil rights movement, or his views on world affairs, black-and-white relations, Vietnam, Christianity, and fellow writers, Baldwin was always both popular and controversial.

This important collection contributes significantly to the clarification and expansion of the ideas in Baldwin's fiction, drama, essays, and poetry. It gives additional life to a stunning orator and major literary figure who considered himself a sojourner even in his own country. Yet early in his career Baldwin told Studs Terkel: “I am an American writer. This country is my subject.”

About the Authors

Fred R. Standley is coeditor (with Louis H. Pratt) of Conversations with James Baldwin, published by University Press of Mississippi.

Louis H. Pratt is coeditor (with Fred R. Standley) of Conversations with James Baldwin, published by University Press of Mississippi.