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59th out of 404 books
—
466 voters
Nobody Knows My Name
Told with Baldwin's characteristically unflinching honesty, this collection of illuminating, deeply felt essays examines topics ranging from race relations in the United States to the role of the writer in society, and offers personal accounts of Richard Wright, Norman Mailer and other writers.
Paperback, 242 pages
Published
December 1st 1992
by Vintage
(first published 1954)
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Baldwin should be read by anyone and everyone. Any commentary I could make would do poor service to his writing and his ideas, but the more and more I read this book the more I appreciate his voice, reasoned, calm, pleading of an understanding to the issue of race which even the most "liberated" of us only poorly grasp.
Even more, knowing this collection of essays was written nearly fifty years ago, it is hard to imagine how deeply we have sunk back into a sense of complacency regarding race issu...more
Even more, knowing this collection of essays was written nearly fifty years ago, it is hard to imagine how deeply we have sunk back into a sense of complacency regarding race issu...more
amazingly concise & insightful, about race, about writing & art, about Wright & Faulkner & Mailer, about what it means to be an american. he lets nobody off the hook, himself included. the only thing i was really puzzled by was an essay on Andre Gide where it seems like Baldwin is bashing Gide from deep inside the closet. i found this interesting essay on line that suggests that this is a pose to lure the reader in (if i'm reading right):
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi...
james baldwin is one of my very favorite essayists, and there are several excellent examples of his insights included in this volume. the essay "princes and powers," for example, characterizes the hope, anxiety and ambition that characterized the early days of post-colonialism with incredible clarity. baldwin wrote it in response to a "conference of negro-african writers and artists" held in france in 1956. the essay serves as a series of extended notes about the conference, and they work as an...more
for various reasons i have this self imposed rule that I don't give stars to books on goodreads. yet, for this book, i must break my rule because i feel the need to offset the IDIOTS who gave this book less than five stars.
this is a book about race and understanding. a kind plea for love in the face of the ignorance of the times.
i have never seen a writer who mixes so well frustration and anger with empathy love and understanding. this book is extremely courageous...he's talking about what it's...more
this is a book about race and understanding. a kind plea for love in the face of the ignorance of the times.
i have never seen a writer who mixes so well frustration and anger with empathy love and understanding. this book is extremely courageous...he's talking about what it's...more
In the first half of this collection of essays, Baldwin speaks eloquently and insightfully about America's shameful racial history and his efforts to escape it, by expatriating himself, then returning, to Harlem and the South, to address his inescapable identity as a black American and use that knowledge to become a better writer, his purpose and burden in life. The section was some of the best writing I've ever read, just so much packed into such short essays.
The second half were critical essay...more
The second half were critical essay...more
I never want to stop reading this.
It is chewy like toffee, has the sharp clarity of a handful of topaz, & still has the urgency of a horse race.
I cannot believe that anyone has ever been this insightful, smart, & compassionate about the failings of his fellow man, while still being able to see their faults in startling clarity.
It is chewy like toffee, has the sharp clarity of a handful of topaz, & still has the urgency of a horse race.
I cannot believe that anyone has ever been this insightful, smart, & compassionate about the failings of his fellow man, while still being able to see their faults in startling clarity.
I love James Baldwin, and I mean that in the most sincere and least hyperbolic way possible. I also respect and admire him (and his writing), and Nobody Knows My Name is quite as good as Notes of a Native Son. They should probably print his article about Richard Wright as an appendix to editions of Wright's books (are you listening Norton Critical Editions). However, I was honestly shocked at how few women were present in these essays - it was really shockingly few. On some level I can understan...more
This book of James Baldwin's essays really reaches out and grabs the heart and the emotions on topics that have effected many of us. I've read this book at least twice (maybe 3 times?) because his writing touches me like a violinist gently grazes the strings of a violin with his bow. The music is beautiful.
Deeply eloquent. I love his long phrases and elegantly arranged sentences. I don't know if I'm weird but each thought, description, what-have-you goes down like buttah.
I can definitely recommend this to everybody. His views are reasoned (as someone remarked here) and they have this lovely restrained quality, even as they are dealing with extremely troublesome, controversial matters. His eye ran sharp and deep. And morally he is without compromise.
His commitment to his craft and his politics do...more
This collection of essays are a look into Baldwin's perspective on American society, by way of individuals he assesses. Very much the literary celebrity, he opines on some of the great authors of the 1950's and 60's and their flaws or achievements. He seems to be from a in between literary era. I did enjoy the eulogizing Richard Wright essays the most.
Changed my life. After I finished reading this book, I remember it was a summer and I was working as an assistant manager at a deli on a beach, and I had to get up super early to open up the place. And I had the craziest, wildest dreams. I woke up in the middle of the night with a general disconcernment... feeling the world was a bit off-center. That's how much this book made me think. It not only rocked my perception of the world but James Baldwin, although his writing is steeped in the explana...more
3.5 stars. I liked some of the essays better than others--I thought he was best when he was talking about the South, Harlem, Richard Wright, and Norman Mailer.
If I could have anyone describe my emotional turmoil with people and society, it would be James Baldwin.
Certainly eloquent, but the ideas are not well-formed. And behind it all I can hear a hint of blackmail.
James Baldwin writes long Ciceroo-esque sentences about the injustices that African-Americans faced during and prior to the integration of African-American children into white schools. He ponders questions such as "what it means to be an American" and "what is a majority" but doesn't necessarily answer his questions. I enjoyed this piece of literary criticism becuase it was personal, well written and confronted authors such as Richard Wright and filmmaker Ingmar Berghan about their views without...more
the first book by Baldwin that i ever gave a perfect rating.
Baldwin is at his best in this volume when writing about his first travels through the Southern U.S. It made me wonder what writer today could do a similar job of traveling and telling what was found.
As another reviewer pointed out, his piece on Gide's homosexuality was very problematical, as it seemed Baldwin didn't want to mention his own sexuality.
And his re-stirring of the pots of his feud-tinged friendships with Richard Wright and Norman Mailer are not particularly illuminating.
As another reviewer pointed out, his piece on Gide's homosexuality was very problematical, as it seemed Baldwin didn't want to mention his own sexuality.
And his re-stirring of the pots of his feud-tinged friendships with Richard Wright and Norman Mailer are not particularly illuminating.
If we lived in a society that cared about people learning and not just disseminating information, I think this book would be mandatory in schools.
Jul 30, 2008
Melanie
is currently reading it
I normally don't read multiple books at one time, but somehow that's what I'm doing now-a-days. I wish we got to pick from different versions of book jackets so you could see what my book looks like. Anyways, this book is promising to be one that make me take measure without even being a self-help book. He wrote this book as he was leaving Europe and returning to the United States under the realization that you take your troubles with you.
Jan 10, 2013
Lily
marked it as to-read
The first essay alone, "The Discovery of what it means to be an American" is full of insights that are aiding me immensely in analyzing my own feelings about being an American on the European continent. I'm happy I picked this up immediately following Native Son , I never knew Baldwin was such a brilliantly intuitive writer.
As always, I enjoy reading Baldwin. Without a doubt, this material could seem dated, but I found it fascinating to get a glimpse into the thought processes of some of these people more than 50 years ago. Always an eyeopener to re-connect with the situation in this country only slightly more than a generation past.
writes about the ways in which American identity has been formed, from the beginning now, on the duality of white freedom in relation to black enslavement and submission. Great essays to think about what it means to be American, what we claim when we say we are such.
Maybe this should only be 3 stars since I can't remember enough of the content to summarize, but I love James Baldwin's writing. There is something clear and beautiful about his prose and I find him an interesting thinker.
It's taking me awhile to read this very short book. Great quotes, but I have to admit it's not that captivating. It touches on very significant issues on black identity and crisis, though.
Feb 20, 2011
Velvetink
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
african-american,
z-1970-s
Read it before....brought it home to re-read and review.
"Letter from Harlem: Uptown" ('obviously' as someone said to me after) and "In Search of a Majority" changed my life.
James Baldwin is one of our greatest American writers. This is a collection of his nonfiction essays.
Good writings on race in society. Argues strongly for affirmative action. Eloquent but repetitive.
Obviously, I'm a fan. Everyone should read James Baldwin. Very important.
Oct 29, 2012
Velvetink
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
non-fiction
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Bal...more
More about James Baldwin...
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Bal...more
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“The artistic image is not intended to represent the thing itself, but, rather, the reality of the force the thing contains.”
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30 people liked it
“Many have given up. They stay home and watch the TV screen, living on the earnings of their parents, cousins, bothers, or uncles, and only leave the house to go to the movies or to the nearest bar. "How're you making it?" on may ask, running into them along the block, or in the bar. "Oh, I'm TV-ing it"; with the saddest, sweetest, most shamefaced of smiles, and from a great distance. This distance one is compelled to respect; anyone who has traveled so far will not easily be dragged again into the world. There are further retreats, of course, than the TV screen or the bar. There are those who are simply sitting on their stoops, "stoned," animated for a moment only, and hideously, by the approach of someone who may lend them the money for a "fix." Or by the approach of someone from whom they can purchase it, one of the shrewd ones, on the way to prison or just coming out.”
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24 people liked it
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