Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin
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Notes of a Native Son

Author: James Baldwin

Narrator: Ron Butler

Unabridged: 5 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2015


Synopsis

At last, a new audio edition of the book many have called James Baldwin's most influential work!Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in "The Harlem Ghetto" to a sobering "Journey to Atlanta." Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright's work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise. Notes is the book that established Baldwin's voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.

About James Baldwin

Born in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, play­wright, poet, social critic and the author of more than twenty books. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay col­lection The Fire Next Time was a bestseller that made him an influential figure in the civil rights movement. Baldwin spent many years in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in 1987.

About Ron Butler

Ron Butler is a Los Angeles-based actor and voice artist with over a hundred film and television credits (playing everything from brooding doctors to screwball hipsters). Most kids will recognize him from the three seasons he spent on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP. Ron works regularly as a commercial and animation voice-over artist and has voiced a wide variety of audiobooks. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater Company and an Independent Filmmaker Project Award winner for his work in the HBO film Everyday People. Originally from the Bahamas, Ron grew up singing calypso onstage with his father (the country's number-one recording artist) before touring (and recording) in Europe with a jazz band. In his spare time, he impersonates the president while playing the ukulele.


Reviews

Goodreads review by emma on March 27, 2022

I read books extremely fast most of the time, for two main reasons: 1) my natural reading pace is pretty speedy, and 2) and much more significantly, I have an absurd and punishing brain that urges me to pursue projects like "read a short story a day" and "read three chapters of a classic for a month"......more

Goodreads review by Brian on January 26, 2015

Around this time last year friend Rowena and I did a buddy-read of this collection of Baldwin essays. It wasn’t the first Baldwin book that I’d read, but it was the first book of his non-fiction. It was also the first book that I’ve read that made me feel SHAME for being a white man. The full weight......more

Goodreads review by Lucy on June 19, 2020

Greatest Of All Time......more

Goodreads review by Bookishrealm on April 22, 2023

I could not be more grateful to Erica (thebrokenspine) for including me on this journey where we are reading Baldwins entire bibliography. This was my first time reading Baldwin and it didn't disappoint. It was pure brilliance. I would be a liar if I said I didn't struggle with reading this. There we......more


Quotes

“He named for me the things you feel but couldn’t utter…articulated for the first time to white America what it meant to be American and a black American at the same time.” Henry Louis Gates Jr., author, essayist, and literary critic

“A straight-from-the-shoulder writer, writing about the troubled problems of this troubled earth with an illuminating intensity.” Langston Hughes, poet, social activist, and novelist

“I owe a tremendous debt to the example of his work.” John Edgar Wideman, National Book Award nominee

“Baldwin’s vision, his humor, his tragically beautiful style, make this a book [to]…turn to for a long time.” American Scholar

“The collected ‘pieces’ of the author of Go Tell It on the Mountain form a compelling unit as he applies the high drama of poetry and sociology to a penetrating analysis of the Negro experience on the American and European scene…The expression of so many insights enriches rather than clarifies, and behind every page stalks a man, an everyman, seeking his identity…and ours. Exceptional writing.” Kirkus Reviews


Awards

  • Audible.com Bestseller