false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174512275m/410810.jpg 410810 10 Originally published in 1955, James Baldwin's first nonfiction book has become a classic. These searing essays on life in Harlem, the protest novel, movies, and Americans abroad remain as powerful today as when they were written. 125495 1963 Notes of a Native Son (Beacon Paperback) total:719|5:319|4:283|3:97|2:17|1:3| 719 3055 1030 41 5 1 false false Sat May 31 12:22:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 12:30:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Nov 24 15:32:03 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 15:32:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Sep 04 13:40:08 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 14:03:32 -0700 2009
I must have read Baldwin at a young age -- cannot now remember having done so.


The essay is powerful, powerful, powerful. Baldwin's writing is sparse, elemental, and surgical. He as no t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 14:36:44 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 10:11:34 -0700 2008
Not an easy read, but worth it for Baldwin's sharp insights and rage. Baldwin cuts to the quick here, and then he pulls out the hydrogen peroxide and starts jabbing that in too. It's much needed medicine, even if it does sting like nobody's business.

I have a feeling...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 16:26:15 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 14:55:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 30 16:17:07 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 31 12:52:24 -0800 2007
The first three essays are Baldwin's critiques of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Native Son," and a movie that hasn't survived the ages, "Carmen Jones."...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 19:08:21 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 19:11:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 13 15:57:13 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 20:14:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 26 00:54:32 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 06 10:42:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Jan 16 11:56:52 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 11:57:59 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Feb 17 12:22:15 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 12:22:15 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Aug 20 09:07:42 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 09:08:12 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jun 17 12:39:51 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 12:40:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 11:31:18 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 11:31:43 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 19:55:27 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 19:55:41 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Apr 14 19:14:34 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 19:14:42 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 13 19:06:05 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 19:06:05 -0700 2008
It's good to have such a vibrant account of growing up in Harlem, however little I can relate to it, and his account of being a Black student in Paris is enlightening for anyon...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 21 20:27:43 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 16:12:35 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 20:27:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 15 18:42:49 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 15 18:52:02 -0700 2007
One thing I learned: I didn't know Baldwin spent the year 1942 working in defense plants in NJ, as he recounts in the essay "Notes of a Native Son":

"That year in New Jersey lives in my mind as though it were the year during w...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jan 17 21:49:55 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 21:52:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=410810