James Baldwin. Baldwin. Jimmy. What comes to mind when you hear his name? When you hear his name what do you think of? Maybe after reading David Leeming's biography book on the one of a kind Mr. Baldwin those thoughts and images may be expanded to more deeper things (lack of a better word). Deeper things-in a good way-because this book takes us from when Mr. Baldwin was a child to his grave (who was at the funeral, what songs were sung during the funeral service, etc.).
The last 10 pages for me were heartbreaking, emotional, hard to read at times, but by the end you feel like you've experience a man's struggles, pain, delights, complexity during his immense involvement in social change in America and how his work effected many around the globe (Paris, Africa and Istabul).
Mr. Baldwins' insight in America, world events, race, ghettos, literature, injustice, history, etc. is incredible, his commentary is always fascinating to listen to. He could be many things to many people and as the years went on Mr. Baldwin became a mentor to the future generation which I thought was very cool and important. This shows the depth of his work and what he meant to various age groups and his encounters with people and the entourage he'd have, this defined him as far as how he treated people and what he stood for is something that became clearer as I read the book.
It's a 300+ book that is worth every page. And since I'm a writer there were lines in the book that I could relate to, so how David Leeming (he'd known James Baldwin for over 20 years) describes the lifestyle and the mindset of a writer and the sacrifices that a writer has to experience is captured and explained well.
I've read a good amount of his books (novels/essays) so far (and looking forward to reading certain ones over again), but I'm really looking forward to reading his last novel 'Just Above My Head'. The way it's described in the bio it sounds like it all come together in his last novel-it was his longest too. The works he didn't get done are mentioned in the book, which is also interesting, because it reminds me of one Mr. Baldwins' poems where he says 'time is not money, time is time, like everything is everything...'
Here is a passage that has stuck with me since I finished reading the book:
'He [James Baldwin] reminded his brother [David Baldwin] that racism is based on fear, that when the white racist confronts the black man, what he sees is not the individual man but a "nightmare" of his own creation. Above all, he said, "you must take care not to step inside" his nightmare, his guilt, and his fear, his hatred. To step into the nightmare is to justify it and to relinquish the soul's freedom and the control over one's life. To enter the nightmare is to become a "nigger".
I didn't know he tried to kill himself more than once, didn't know he preached for three years when he was a teenager, faced violence and that he left new york to go to Paris with very little money, and a bessie smith record. He had to write. He told his mother at the age of 8 that he was going to be a great writer someday and that it was all he wanted to do.
Thank you David Leeming for writing such a magnificent biographical book!
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