Two James Baldwin experts break down his early fiction and political writing

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

To mark the end of Black History Month, we're revisiting two conversations about James Baldwin that first aired last summer for his 100th birthday. First, NPR's Andrew Limbong speaks with McKinley Melton – associate professor of Africana Studies at Rhodes College – about Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell It On the Mountain. Melton says he sees the work as an autobiographical revisitation of the author's own childhood, filled with all that Baldwin wished he knew at 14. Then, professor and novelist Jesmyn Ward joins Limbong to discuss The Fire Next Time. The nonfiction work contains two of Baldwin's political essays, the first of which is written as a letter to Baldwin's 14-year-old nephew.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Last year, when my editor and I were talking
0:07.5	about how to mark James Baldwin's 100th birthday, a lot of angles came up. He was obviously a
0:13.7	civil rights activist. He was a TV personality. He was a great debater. And I could talk for hours
0:19.7	about how much of a style and fashion icon he was.
0:23.1	But then I was like, let's not forget he was primarily a writer, a guy who could put together sentences that were beautiful and crushing and thoughtful, and often all at the same time.
0:35.0	So I hit up a couple of people who were fans of his work, people who could really take
0:39.3	it apart and put it back together again.
0:41.9	And to mark the end of Black History Month this year, we're bringing you those conversations
0:46.0	again.
0:46.7	In a bit, we'll hear from the acclaimed writer, Jasmine Ward, talking about Baldwin's book,
0:51.3	The Fire Next Time.
0:52.9	But first, we're going to have a conversation about Baldwin's first novel after the break.
0:58.0	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
1:02.7	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
1:09.3	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:13.0	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:16.6	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:22.2	When it comes to Baldwin's novels, his fiction work,
1:25.1	there are plenty of books worthy of examination, but there's
1:28.4	something special about his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain.
1:31.8	He describes this as the book that he had to write if he was ever going to write anything else.
1:37.2	Here to help us through some key passages from the book is McKinley Milton. He's an associate
	...

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