Horizon Information Portal

e-branch

Home

My Account/Renew Loans

Find Magazine Articles & more

Jimmy's blues and other poems / James Baldwin ; with an introduction by Nikky Finney.

by Baldwin, James, 1924-1987.

View full image

Beacon Press, [2014]

Blacks -- Poetry.

American poetry -- 20th century

American poetry -- Black authors.

9780807084861 (pbk.)

0807084867 (pbk.)

Alternate title:

xxi, 94 pages ; 22 cm.

Jimmy's Blues -- Staggerlee wonders -- Song (for Skip) -- Munich, Winter 1973 (for Y.S.) -- The giver (for Berdis) -- 3.00 a.m. (for David) -- The darkest hour -- Imagination -- Confession -- Le sporting-club de Monte Carlo (for Lena Horne) -- Some days (for Paula) -- Conundrum (on my birthday) (for Rico) -- Christmas carol -- A lady like landscapes (for Simone Signoret) -- Guilt, Desire and Love -- Death is easy (for Jefe) -- Mirrors (for David) -- A Lover's Question -- Inventory/On Being 52 -- Amen -- Other Poems -- Gypsy -- Songn for the Shepard Boy -- For A. -- For EARL -- Untitled -- BALLAD (for Yoran)

"During his lifetime (1924–1987), James Baldwin authored seven novels, as well as several plays and essay collections, which were published to wide-spread praise. These books, among them Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, Giovanni's Room, and Go Tell It on the Mountain, brought him well-deserved acclaim as a public intellectual and admiration as a writer. However, Baldwin's earliest writing was in poetic form, and Baldwin considered himself a poet throughout his lifetime. Nonetheless, his single book of poetry, Jimmy's Blues, never achieved the popularity of his novels and nonfiction. This new edition presents James Baldwin the poet, including all nineteen poems from Jimmy's Blues, as well as all the poems from a limited-edition volume called Gypsy, of which only 325 copies were ever printed and which was in production at the time of his death. Known for his relentless honesty and startlingly prophetic insights on issues of race, gender, class, and poverty, Baldwin is just as enlightening and bold in his poetry as in his famous novels and essays. The poems range from the extended dramatic narratives of 'Staggerlee wonders' and 'Gypsy' to the lyrical beauty of 'Some days,' which has been set to music and interpreted by such acclaimed artists as Audra McDonald. Nikky Finney's introductory essay reveals the importance, relevance, and rich rewards of these little-known works. Baldwin's many devotees will find much to celebrate in these pages"--Provided by publisher.

American poetry.

Horizon Information Portal 3.24_8902M

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal