“I am completely indebted to Jimmy Baldwin’s prose. It liberated me as a writer.”—Toni Morrison
This collectible edition celebrates James Baldwin’s 100th-year anniversary, probing the shortcomings of the American protest novel and the harmful representations of Black identity in film and fiction
Originally published in Notes of a Native Son, the essays “Autobiographical Notes,” “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” “Many Thousands Gone,” and “Carmen Jones: The Dark is Light Enough,” showcase Baldwin’s incisive voice as a social and literary critic.
“Autobiographical Notes” outlines Baldwin’s journey as a Black writer and his hesitant transition from fiction to nonfiction. In the following essays, Baldwin explores the Black experience through the lens of popular media, critiquing the ways in which Black characters—in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Richard Wright’s novel Native Son, and the 1950s film Carmen Jones—are reduced to digestible caricatures.
Everybody’s Protest Novel: Essays is the first of 3 special editions in the James Baldwin centennial anniversary series. Through this collection, Baldwin examines the façade of progress present in the novels of Black oppression. These essays showcase Baldwin’s profound ability to reveal the truth of the Black experience, exposing the failure of the protest novel, and the state of racial reckoning at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement.
“I am completely indebted to Jimmy Baldwin’s prose. It liberated me as a writer.”
—Toni Morrison
“As Baldwin once said, reading allows us to recognize each other . . . It makes everything seem possible. May we find hope in his brilliant words.”
—Imani Perry
Autobiographical Notes
Everybody’s Protest Novel
Many Thousands Gone
Carmen Jones: The Dark Is Light Enough
- “Beacon celebrates Baldwin, Massachusetts Book Awards expand, and a new bookstore for romance,” The Boston Globe, coverage of the Baldwin Centennial Series in New England Literary News column
- “Which Dad Are You?: Recommended Reading for Father’s Day,” Beacon Broadside, included in Father’s Day reading roundup
- “Clack That Fan for These Pride Month Reads!” Beacon Broadside, included in Pride reading roundup
- “Publishers Celebrate James Baldwin Centennial with Reissues,” Publishers Weekly, feature
- “Celebrating 100 Years of James Baldwin with Centennial Series Editions!” Beacon Broadside, write-up on centennial series release