A Review on the Works of James Baldwin Essay -- Literature

Introduction The works of James Baldwin are directly related to the issues of racism, religion and personal conflicts, and sexuality and masculinity during Baldwin's years.James Baldwin's works, both fiction and nonfiction were in some instance a direct reflection his life. Through close interpretation you can combine his work to give a "detailed" look into his actual life. However since most writings made by him are all considered true works of literature we can't consider them to be of autobiographical nature. Religion Personal Life Baldwin reflected his own life in various forms. These include autobiographical essays to fiction and drama. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and play, The Amen Corner, mirror his childhood experiences in the storefront churches of Harlem where James and his stepfather, David Baldwin, preached. The "Autobiographical Notes" section of Notes of a Native Son and the "Down at the Cross" section of The Fire Next Time provide a seemingly realistic view into Baldwin's childhood and his growing involvement with the civil rights movement. Filled with a number of autobiographical passages in Nobody Knows My Name, No Name in the Street and The Devil Finds Word join together to provide a general, somewhat realistic, autobiography. One interest in particular is Baldwin's view on his relationships with Richard Wright ("Alas, Poor Richard") and Norman Mailer ("The Black Boy Looks at the White Boy"), both of which are included in Nobody Knows My Name .(Werner, Craig 45-48) When Baldwin was three years of age his mother married David Baldwin, a Southerner who had made the journey to New York as part of the large stream of black migration north during the times following the First World War. James, t... ...aesthetic: James Baldwin's primer of black American masculinity." African American Review 32.2 (1998): 247. MasterFILE Premier Werner, Craig. "JAMES BALDWIN." Research Guide to Biography & Criticism 1.(1985): 45-48. Book Collection: Nonfiction. Baldwin, James Preservation of Innocence." Zero 1.2 (Summer 1949). Rpt. in Out/Look 6 (Fall 1989), 40-41 Powers, Peter Kerry. "The Treacherous Body: Isolation, Confession, and Community in James Baldwin." 787-813. Duke University Press, 2005. Academic Search Premier. de Romanet, Jerome. "Revisiting Madeleine and `The Outing': James Baldwin's revision of Gide's sexual politics." MELUS 22.1 (1997): 3. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. Robert E. Morsberger. "James Baldwin." Magill Book Reviews. Salem Press, 1998. eNotes.com. 2006. 4 Dec, 2010 james-baldwin-0080505824