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Jimmy's Blues And Other Poems (2014)

by James Baldwin(Favorite Author)

4.28 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0807084867 (ISBN13: 9780807084861)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Beacon Press

review 1: I'd always thought of Baldwin as a poet, or at least he occupied the poet's corner in the halls of writers-I-hadn't-read-much-of-yet. So I was a little surprised, when I finally decided to dig in, that this was the sum of all his published poetry. In this book are great poems, remarkable poems, and a few that didn't really grab me right away. Not enough, perhaps, to make a case for James Baldwin as poet of the century. But if you've read any of his essays or interviews, or perhaps his novels, you'll recognize immediately one of the most singular and unmistakable voices in American literature. Poet or essayist, Baldwin was a hell of a writer and a wise man to boot. It all comes through in these words, and I'm glad to have even a small collection like this to refer peo... moreple to.
review 2: I skipped Nikky Finney’s great introduction the first time I read these poems, and that was a mistake. I still prefer the subtler poems such as the untitled one that begins with “Lord, / when you send the rain, / think about it, please, / a little.” However, Finney gives context to the overtly political meditations, the ones that traffic in a dizzying combination of shocking language and high rhetoric, gutter and mountain. Beacon Press has designed a gorgeous book that Baldwin fans will be happy to own. less

Download links for: Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems

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