• Going to Meet the Man

  • By: James Baldwin
  • Narrated by: Dion Graham
  • Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (852 ratings)

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Going to Meet the Man

By: James Baldwin
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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Publisher's summary

"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it."

The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their heads above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob.

©1957, 1958, 1960, 1965 James Baldwin (P)2012 AudioGO

What listeners say about Going to Meet the Man

Average customer ratings
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    4 out of 5 stars

Punch in the gut

I gave this book four stars only because it is difficult in these compilations to tell when one story ends and another begins. Still, the inspiration gets are amazing and disturbing. The last short story is a powerful portrayal of a lynching party. That one in particular will bother me for a while.

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17 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing and insightful stories

I've never read this book before, but I've known it is a collection of different stories compiled into one book.
This audio made no mention of what story was being orated which kinda threw me off at times, so I had to keep going back to find where the stories bagan and ended.
I had a hard time listening to the narrator, because even though he has a great voice his way of emphasizing the characters, just wasn't consistent.

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16 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Raw, gripping, beautiful

I can’t help but change a little every time I read his work. Utterly devastating. Completely human.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Master

Several excellent stories, particularly “Sonny’s Blues” and “Going to Meet the Man.” These are real stories reflective of moral ambiguity and human complexity. Brilliant. No pat reassurances. Baldwin seeks truth, not platitudes.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing, eye opening

A must read, especially for white people like me who didn't live through Jim Crow. The narrator does different accents and was perfect for the book.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Blast From The Past - Read This in High School

An awesome writer as he carefully and eloquently paints the canvas with colorful and direct to the core. His words bring you right there as if, you were present at that very moment experiencing whatever was going on.
Exceptional at its best.

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Timeless, Authentic, and Eye Opening

This collection of short stories paint a Codie and diverse pictures of Black Life across the early 20th century. It’s oddly refreshing how many of the themes are still relevant today. And excellent listen

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6 people found this helpful

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Mixed review

The narration was excellent. Only the last story (with the book's title) was very strong for me. The themes of the others are better explored in Baldwin's novels and essays.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Baldwin always rewards

This is a collection of stories, so inevitably some of them are much better than others, but well worth reading. Not as good as
some of his great novels.

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3 people found this helpful

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loved it

the narration was quite enjoyable, good flow in the book. felt like James himself was reading it.

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1 person found this helpful