James Baldwin - The Life Album

An intimate portrait of James Baldwin, offering a new understanding of his life and works as seen through his close relationships and private lifeJames Baldwin (1924-1987) was a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, an influential author, intellectual, and activist who led a celebrated public life-and whose words and image and persona remain current in our culture. Baldwin's many incarnations-"son of Harlem," "Black icon," "great twentieth-century writer," "race man," "prophet," "witness"-have reemerged in the digital age as Baldwin's work becomes a touchstone for a new generation. It is the private, vulnerable, and messier Baldwin-the man behind the prophet and the online meme-who is the focus of this book.Magdalena J. Zaborowska draws on Baldwin's archives and material legacy-from his unpublished papers to his books to his house in France-to offer a fresh look at the writer's understated and obscured private life. Taking a cue from Baldwin's own love of the blues, Zaborowska presents his biography as a series of tracks on a vinyl record, introducing, developing, and remixing the themes and relationships from his life. She recounts episodes from Baldwin's troubled childhood, his struggles with sexuality and gender, his intimate relationships, and the overlooked influence of women, Jews, and queers on his writing. This Life Album revolves around Baldwin's development of a unique worldview, "Black queer humanism," premised on African diaspora aesthetics, resilience, joy, community, internationalism, activism, and justice.

Product details

• Authors: Magdalena J. Zaborowska, Zaborowska Magdalena J.
• Publisher: Yale University Press Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.05.2025
• EAN: 9780300262209
• ISBN: 978-0-300-26220-9
• No. of pages: 320
• Series: Black Lives
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Non-fiction book > Art, literature > Biographies, autobiographies; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, Biography: literary, Biography: general, Literature: history & criticism, Ethnic groups and multicultural studies, Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies, Biography: writers, Literature: history and criticism, Black & Asian Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / African American & Black, Relating to African American / Black American people, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / African American & Black