NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME

Born in Harlem in 1924 James Baldwin was a novelist essayist playwright poet social critic and the author of more than twenty books. His first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews and his essay collection The Fire Next Time was a bestseller that made him an influential figure in the civil rights movement. Baldwin spent many years in France where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in 1987.These essays ... live and grow in the mind James Campbell IndependentBeing a writer says James Baldwin in this searing collection of essays requires every ounce of stamina he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are. His seminal 1961 followup to Notes on a Native Son shows him responding to his times and exploring his role as an artist with biting precision and emotional power: from polemical pieces on racial segregation and a journey to the Old Country of the Southern states to reflections on figures such as Ingmar Bergman and Andrę Gide and on the first great conference of African writers and artists in Paris.Brilliant...accomplished...strong...vivid...honest...masterly The New York TimesA bright and alive book full of grief love and anger Chicago TribuneGB