James Baldwin, an Original

An interviewer once asked James Baldwin what he would say if a man from Mars suddenly appeared and asked, "What are you?" "At the time I left the country in 1948," he replied, "I would have answered your man from Mars by saying 'I am a writer'...Now I think I'd say to him: 'I am a writer with a lot of work to do and wondering if I can do it!'"

A portrait of the singular author at 40, Gloria Steinem's James Baldwin, an Original finds Baldwin between rehearsals for his Broadway play, Blues for Mister Charlie, a tragedy loosely based on the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi, as he attempts to get his vision from page to stage uncompromised - and wrestles with his growing fame as a writer and activist. James Baldwin, an Original was originally published in Vogue, July 1964.

Cover design by Adil Dara.

©2016 Gloria Steinem (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Brilliant!!!

Real Baldwin through the lens of an icon!

Real Baldwin through the lens of an icon!

Well written and insightful..

Interesting, well written, and insightful. Old-school intelligent journalism. It's one American icon sharing views on another. It is probably an important and beautiful journalistic milestone.