Letter to Jimmy

by Alain Mabanckou

Overview

Written on the twentieth anniversary of James Baldwin's death, Letter to Jimmy is African writer Alain Mabanckou's ode to his literary hero and an effort to place Baldwin's life in context within the greater African diaspora.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593766016
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	12/16/2014
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alain Mabanckou is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic. A French citizen born in Republic of the Congo, he currently lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches literature and creative writing at UCLA. His books include African Psycho, Letter to Jimmy, Black Bazaar, Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty, The Lights of Pointe-Noire, and Black Moses. Mabanckou has twice been a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, in 2015 and 2017.

Table of Contents

foreword: the Santa Monica wanderer vii

1 a brave mother, and a father who did not love himself 1

2 the Harlem schoolboy and the Bible 27

3 in the footsteps of Professor Wright 41

4 the destruction of idols: from Uncle Tom's Cabin to Native Son 51

5 black, bastard, gay and a writer 71

6 between the black American and the African: misunderstanding 83

7 the years of fire 95

8 on black anti-semitism 107

9 the ghost of Saint-Paul-de-Vence 125

10 on the need to read or reread you today 139

afterword: dialogue with Ralph, the invisible man 153

postscript: James Baldwin the brother, the father 157

endnotes 163

Editorial Reviews

11/24/2014
Originally written on the 20th anniversary of James Baldwin's death in 1987, this book by Mabanckou (Memoirs of a Porcupine) addresses Baldwin in the second person. Much of the first half recounts Baldwin's biographic details, illuminating the pre–Civil Rights Movement Harlem in which Baldwin was raised or the sense of artistic and personal liberation he would find in France. Precisely because of the use of the second person, the format of the prose can feel a bit stilted; Mabanckou is ostensibly telling Baldwin about his own life: "During your childhood, you have countless opportunities to witness the extent to which your father distrusts the white man, whoever he may be…." Once the rhythm of the text becomes more established, however, Mabanckou displays more clarity on the cultural and political context that Baldwin both represented and contrasted. Eventually, as Mabanckou explores correlations between Baldwin's ideas and the contemporary world, the book really comes into its own. For instance, Mabanckou questions whether some of the "Rwandan genocide" literature echoes Uncle Tom's Cabin: "If we are not careful, an African author will be able to do nothing but await the next disaster…." One of the most influential and fearless writers of the 20th century, Baldwin deserves this celebration of his life, so that readers may encounter, in a new light, the fortitude of this true revolutionary. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"A heartfelt tribute . . . Mabanckou's essay displays a profound respect and admiration for his subject . . . They both also break ground with their literary work in trying to not let their art be restricted by perceptions of what is expected of them." --World Literature Today

"As Mabanckou explores correlations between Baldwin's ideas and the contemporary world, the book really comes into its own . . . One of the most influential and fearless writers of the 20th century, Baldwin deserves this celebration of his life, so that readers may encounter, in a new light, the fortitude of this true revolutionary." --Publishers Weekly

"A touching and personal tribute to James Baldwin . . . Mabanckou has written an odd, emotional, and quite beautiful homage to a writer who remains a major African American voice almost 27 years after his death." --Booklist

"This short book provides many insights into the life and work of James Baldwin (1924-1987) . . . Deeply intimate, Letter to Jimmy is a tribute from one expatriate writer to another who achieved his dream of becoming 'an honest man and a good writer.'" --Gay & Lesbian Review

From the Publisher

11/15/2014
This curious book by the Congolese-French writer Mabanckou (French and Francophone studies, Univ. of California Los Angeles; Broken Glass) is written in the form of a second-person epistle to the revered African American writer James Baldwin (1924–87). Mabanckou tells Baldwin's life story; this experiment in biography is partially successful because it rarely draws attention to its own self-reflexivity. The details of Baldwin's life are unevenly presented (Mabanckou barely mentions any of his subject's accomplishments from 1966 to 1985), focusing predominantly on his upbringing and years of apprenticeship as a writer. The book heavily looks to accounts of Baldwin by David Leeming and James Campbell. There are sections devoted to Baldwin's tumultuous relationship with Richard Wright, his homosexuality, his time in France, and his attitudes about black anti-Semitism, but offers little in the way of literary analysis. Distinguishing this volume from others about Baldwin, however, is Mabanckou's observations about the vital and prescient international scope of Baldwin's oeuvre. VERDICT This pleasant, quick read introduces readers to some of the central concerns of Baldwin's work, but scholars or devotees of the writer will find little new information about him here.—Brian Flota, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA

Library Journal

2014-10-05
A celebration of James Baldwin's literature and legacy published in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of his death.Written as an open letter to the late author and initially published in France in 2007, this book has been classified by the publisher as "literary memoir," but it functions more as an elliptical biography. Like his literary idol, Mabanckou (French Literature/UCLA; Broken Glass, 2010, etc.) is an émigré to Paris and has spent plenty of time in the United States. But since he is an African, he brings a different perspective to themes of literary exile, race relations and the African diaspora than have Baldwin's biographers (whom he cites liberally). He's particularly incisive on the relationship between Baldwin and the stepfather who was much older than his mother, as Baldwin wrestled with issues of identity from childhood. His stepfather hated "white demons" and their culture with a virulence that the boy didn't share and also instilled a harsh religiosity that his stepson would also reject. Yet James was himself "preaching from the age of fourteen," and it was there that he became "aware of the power of the word," with the biblical resonance that would inform so much of Baldwin's work. Moving to France and openly acknowledging his homosexuality reinforced Baldwin's sense of otherness, and he rebelled against such literary patriarchs as Richard Wright. "[I]dols are created in order to be destroyed," he wrote of his rift with Wright. He also found himself at odds with the Black Power militants of the 1960s, with Eldridge Cleaver condemning him for "the most agonizing, complete hatred for Blacks." Yet the novelist's influence endures, and his imprint is even stronger in France, writes Mabanckou, who declares, "[i]f you return to this world, Jimmy, you will judge your homeland even more severely than you did when you were alive." The conceit of the letter and the oddly intimate tone toward "Jimmy" make this a curious work, but it's often insightful and illuminating.

Kirkus Reviews