James Baldwin: The Last Interview

and other Conversations

Paperback
$16.99 US
5.48"W x 8.17"H x 0.37"D  
On sale Dec 02, 2014 | 128 Pages | 9781612194004
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
“I was not born to be what someone said I was. I was not born to be defined by someone else, but by myself, and myself only.” When, in the fall of 1987, the poet Quincy Troupe traveled to the south of France to interview James Baldwin, Baldwin’s brother David told him to ask Baldwin about everything—Baldwin was critically ill and David knew that this might be the writer’s last chance to speak at length about his life and work.

The result is one of the most eloquent and revelatory interviews of Baldwin’s career, a conversation that ranges widely over such topics as his childhood in Harlem, his close friendship with Miles Davis, his relationship with writers like Toni Morrison and Richard Wright, his years in France, and his ever-incisive thoughts on the history of race relations and the African-American experience.

Also collected here are significant interviews from other moments in Baldwin’s life, including an in-depth interview conducted by Studs Terkel shortly after the publication of Nobody Knows My Name. These interviews showcase, above all, Baldwin’s fearlessness and integrity as a writer, thinker, and individual, as well as the profound struggles he faced along the way.


“If you’re hoping to find holiday reading that is as educational as it is entertaining, look no further than [this] new book of discussions with legendary intellectual James Baldwin.”
—Vogue.com

”One of many reminders that Baldwin’s observations on race, sexuality, and society remain relevant — and that the voice in which he made them remains one of the most compelling in all of American letters.”
Biographile
© Adobe Stock Images
JAMES BALDWIN (1922–1987) was a novelist, essayist, and activist. He is best known for the novels Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and Giovanni’s Room (1956), and the collections Nobody Knows My Name (1961) and The Fire Next Time (1963). He was an important figure in the civil rights movement, and his books addressing the African-American and gay experiences have influenced generations of writers. View titles by James Baldwin
“If you’re hoping to find holiday reading that is as educational as it is entertaining, look no further than [this] new book of discussions with legendary intellectual James Baldwin.”
Vogue.com

“Resonant… Stellar interviews.”
Flavorwire

”Of particular interest to those who seek to better understand Baldwin’s biography and his complex and often contradictory legacy as a trailblazing figure in gay literary history."
Lambda Literary

”One of many reminders that Baldwin’s observations on race, sexuality, and society remain relevant — and that the voice in which he made them remains one of the most compelling in all of American letters.”
Biographile

“The great James Baldwin has his turn in the also great series from Melville House.”
Largehearted Boy, WORD Bookstores' Books of the Week

Praise for James Baldwin:
“Jimmy Baldwin was the creator of contemporary American speech even before Americans could dig that.”
Amiri Baraka

“I am completely indebted to Jimmy Baldwin’s prose. It liberated me as a writer.”
Toni Morrison

“Baldwin’s way of seeing, his clarity, precision, and eloquence are unique . . . He manages to be concrete, particular . . . yet also transcendent, arching above the immediacy of an occasion or crisis. He speaks as great black gospel music speaks, through metaphor, parable, rhythm.”
USA Today

“[Baldwin is] among the most penetrating and perceptive of American thinkers.”
The New Republic

About

“I was not born to be what someone said I was. I was not born to be defined by someone else, but by myself, and myself only.” When, in the fall of 1987, the poet Quincy Troupe traveled to the south of France to interview James Baldwin, Baldwin’s brother David told him to ask Baldwin about everything—Baldwin was critically ill and David knew that this might be the writer’s last chance to speak at length about his life and work.

The result is one of the most eloquent and revelatory interviews of Baldwin’s career, a conversation that ranges widely over such topics as his childhood in Harlem, his close friendship with Miles Davis, his relationship with writers like Toni Morrison and Richard Wright, his years in France, and his ever-incisive thoughts on the history of race relations and the African-American experience.

Also collected here are significant interviews from other moments in Baldwin’s life, including an in-depth interview conducted by Studs Terkel shortly after the publication of Nobody Knows My Name. These interviews showcase, above all, Baldwin’s fearlessness and integrity as a writer, thinker, and individual, as well as the profound struggles he faced along the way.


“If you’re hoping to find holiday reading that is as educational as it is entertaining, look no further than [this] new book of discussions with legendary intellectual James Baldwin.”
—Vogue.com

”One of many reminders that Baldwin’s observations on race, sexuality, and society remain relevant — and that the voice in which he made them remains one of the most compelling in all of American letters.”
Biographile

Author

© Adobe Stock Images
JAMES BALDWIN (1922–1987) was a novelist, essayist, and activist. He is best known for the novels Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and Giovanni’s Room (1956), and the collections Nobody Knows My Name (1961) and The Fire Next Time (1963). He was an important figure in the civil rights movement, and his books addressing the African-American and gay experiences have influenced generations of writers. View titles by James Baldwin

Praise

“If you’re hoping to find holiday reading that is as educational as it is entertaining, look no further than [this] new book of discussions with legendary intellectual James Baldwin.”
Vogue.com

“Resonant… Stellar interviews.”
Flavorwire

”Of particular interest to those who seek to better understand Baldwin’s biography and his complex and often contradictory legacy as a trailblazing figure in gay literary history."
Lambda Literary

”One of many reminders that Baldwin’s observations on race, sexuality, and society remain relevant — and that the voice in which he made them remains one of the most compelling in all of American letters.”
Biographile

“The great James Baldwin has his turn in the also great series from Melville House.”
Largehearted Boy, WORD Bookstores' Books of the Week

Praise for James Baldwin:
“Jimmy Baldwin was the creator of contemporary American speech even before Americans could dig that.”
Amiri Baraka

“I am completely indebted to Jimmy Baldwin’s prose. It liberated me as a writer.”
Toni Morrison

“Baldwin’s way of seeing, his clarity, precision, and eloquence are unique . . . He manages to be concrete, particular . . . yet also transcendent, arching above the immediacy of an occasion or crisis. He speaks as great black gospel music speaks, through metaphor, parable, rhythm.”
USA Today

“[Baldwin is] among the most penetrating and perceptive of American thinkers.”
The New Republic

Join us for a free webinar featuring author Jonathan Haidt!

Join us Tuesday, September 24, 2024 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST for   Free the Anxious Generation Movement: A Call for K-12 School Leaders   Presented by Dr. Jonathan Haidt, Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and Author of The Anxious Generation Moderated by Jenn

Read more

Books for Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month

Penguin Random House Education is proud to celebrate Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs annually from September 15th through October 15th. We are highlighting the works of our authors and illustrators from the Latinx and Hispanic community, whose stories and characters have a profound impact on our society. Here is a selection of titles

Read more

2024 Middle and High School Collections

The Penguin Random House Education Middle School and High School Digital Collections feature outstanding fiction and nonfiction from the children’s, adult, DK, and Grupo Editorial divisions, as well as publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Peruse online or download these valuable resources to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: English Language Arts,

Read more

PRH Education High School Collections

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

Celebrate 100 years of James Baldwin

We’re celebrating the centennial of James Baldwin’s birth by sharing a collection of his work. Explore titles and learn more about the literary legend and civil rights champion.   James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his

Read more