{"product_id":"understanding-james-baldwin-9781643360768","title":"Understanding James Baldwin","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Harlem-born son of a storefront preacher, James Baldwin died almost thirty years ago, but his spirit lives on in the eloquent and still-relevant musings of his novels, short stories, essays, and poems. What concerned him most--as a black man, as a gay man, as an American--were notions of isolation and disconnection at both the individual and communal level and a conviction that only in the transformative power of love could humanity find any hope of healing its spiritual and social wounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eUnderstanding James Baldwin, \u003c\/i\u003e Marc K. Dudley shows that a proper grasp of Baldwin's work begins with a grasp of the times in which he wrote. During a career spanning the civil rights movement and beyond, Baldwin stood at the heart of intellectual and political debate, writing about race, sexual identity, and gendered politics, while traveling the world to promote dialogue on those issues. In surveying the writer's life, Dudley traces the shift in Baldwin's aspirations from occupying the pulpit like his stepfather to becoming a writer amid the turmoil of sexual self-discovery and the harsh realities of American racism and homophobia. The book's analyses of key works in the Baldwin canon--among them, \u003ci\u003eGo Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, \u003c\/i\u003e Sonny's Blues, \u003ci\u003eAnother Country, The Fire Next Time, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Devil Finds Work\u003c\/i\u003e--demonstrate the consistency, contrary to some critics' claims, of Baldwin's vision and thematic concerns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs police violence against people of color, a resurgence in white supremacist rhetoric, and pushback against LGBTQ rights fill today's headlines, James Baldwin's powerful and often-angry words find a new resonance. From early on, Baldwin decried the damning potential of alienation and the persistent bigotry that feeds it. Yet, even as it sometimes wavered, his hope for both the individual and the nation remained intact. In the present historical moment, James Baldwin matters more than ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Dudley, Marc\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/30\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of South Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781643360768\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 160\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d","brand":"Marc Dudley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32962860744779,"sku":"9781643360768","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0021\/1697\/6715\/products\/img_7e5e228c-5baf-43f2-9404-7377b1047395.jpg?v=1605739439","url":"https:\/\/blackbookstore.com\/products\/understanding-james-baldwin-9781643360768","provider":"Black Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}