
James Baldwin
The Life Album
by Magdalena J. Zaborowska
Narrated by Sanya Simmons
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Part of Black Lives
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Pub Date Mar 25 2025 | Archive Date Mar 25 2025
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Description
James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, an influential author, intellectual, and activist who led a celebrated public life—and whose words and image and persona remain current in our culture. Baldwin's many incarnations have reemerged in the digital age as Baldwin's work becomes a touchstone for a new generation. It is the private, vulnerable, and messier Baldwin—the man behind the prophet and the online meme—who is the focus of this book.
Magdalena J. Zaborowska draws on Baldwin's archives and material legacy—from his unpublished papers to his books to his house in France—to offer a fresh look at the writer's understated and obscured private life. Taking a cue from Baldwin's own love of the blues, Zaborowska presents his biography as a series of tracks on a vinyl record, introducing, developing, and remixing the themes and relationships from his life. She recounts episodes from Baldwin's troubled childhood, his struggles with sexuality and gender, his intimate relationships, and the overlooked influence of women, Jews, and queers on his writing. This Life Album revolves around Baldwin's development of a unique worldview, "Black queer humanism," premised on African diaspora aesthetics, resilience, joy, community, internationalism, activism, and justice.
Magdalena J. Zaborowska draws on Baldwin's archives and material legacy—from his unpublished papers to his books to his house in France—to offer a fresh look at the writer's understated and obscured private life. Taking a cue from Baldwin's own love of the blues, Zaborowska presents his biography as a series of tracks on a vinyl record, introducing, developing, and remixing the themes and relationships from his life. She recounts episodes from Baldwin's troubled childhood, his struggles with sexuality and gender, his intimate relationships, and the overlooked influence of women, Jews, and queers on his writing. This Life Album revolves around Baldwin's development of a unique worldview, "Black queer humanism," premised on African diaspora aesthetics, resilience, joy, community, internationalism, activism, and justice.
Advance Praise
“Written with élan by a leading scholar on the life and work of James Baldwin, Zaborowska’s fresh study is a gripping portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most insightful writers.” —Douglas Field, author of Walking in the Dark
“Zaborowska not only produces one of the richest pictures of James Baldwin’s personal and professional lives ever written, but also, she boldly dives into the debates surrounding the ways that images of James (Jimmy) continue to be both used—and abused.”—Robert F. Reid-Pharr, New York University
Available Editions
EDITION | Audiobook, Unabridged |
ISBN | 9798331934507 |
PRICE | $19.99 (USD) |
DURATION | 9 Hours, 18 Minutes |
Available on NetGalley
NetGalley Shelf App (AUDIO)
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