1924–1987
Essayist and novelist who made the American racial and sexual closet a matter of style and prophecy. His sentences argue as if a life depended on them.
Joined the personal essay to a moral indictment of the republic, with a novelist’s ear for intimacy.
Novel · 1956
James Baldwin
In Paris, an American man waits to marry while remembering the affair that has already judged him. Desire and nationality share a rented room.
Psychological novel
Essays · 1963
James Baldwin
A letter to a nephew and a report on race, church, and nation. Baldwin writes as if the republic might still listen, and as if it may not deserve to.
Personal / political essay