--- product_id: 62241366 title: "James Baldwin: A Biography" price: "£15.77" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/62241366-james-baldwin-a-biography store_origin: GB region: Great Britain --- # James Baldwin: A Biography **Price:** £15.77 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** James Baldwin: A Biography - **How much does it cost?** £15.77 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/62241366-james-baldwin-a-biography) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description James Baldwin: A Biography [Leeming, David] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. James Baldwin: A Biography Review: Superb Account of Tormented Genius - I'm old enough to remember the Freedom Riders, and the sit-ins, and Bull Connor, and Martin and Malcolm and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and so much more, all in black and white on a 19 inch Zenith. I've received unsubtle guidance and reading material from African-American comrades in arms during our Vietnam era military service. I've studied the history of the movement with a militant professor. I thought I had a reasonable, historically informed view of racism in America. Then I read Jimmy Baldwin, and this marvelous biography, and my world shifted. Baldwin saw himself as prophetic, and history bears his prophecies out. In one important essay after another, and then in his novels, Baldwin's analysis early in the 1960s of "the Negro problem" - as a "White problem" and as a perpetuation of racist mythologies that denigrate African Americans and elevate any and all whites (long before any talk of "white privilege" and its analysis, loosely analogous to that of Baldwin) - remains as cogent today as the day it was written. Biographer David Leeming was in an ideal position to render Baldwin the justice he fully deserves. Leeming does indefatigable service to his friend and sometime employer, combing the archives, reading every draft, all the unpublished manuscripts, letters, notes, outlines, tracking down and interviewing Baldwin intimates, casual acquaintances, editors, colleagues, drinking companions, lovers, and on and on, hiding nothing (apart from the occasional Baldwin paramour, in the interest of privacy) and placing Baldwin's life in superb context, showing, in detail after detail, how Baldwin, the consummate auto-novelist, placed his life and beliefs completely, exhaustively, redundantly, in myriad variations, on the page, and then walked the talk. Essential as both a tale of a turbulent time in our national life - with the awakening of the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and into the 1960s, a time of courageous protest, daring activism, horrific suppression, riots, assassinations, and waxing and waning political courage - and as a literary biography of a wholly self-made genius, who knew and befriended all the principal civil rights activists and who was himself the center of a literal movable literary feast - the list of Baldwin's prominent friends and admirers is a Who's Who of the times - from his early days in a Harlem ghetto, through three years as "boy preacher" who then left the church and his father's home on the same day, and on to international fame and literary acclaim as perhaps the most formidable bad conscience of his time. Leeming's work also passes muster as a commentary on Baldwin's novels, albeit from a very favorably biased point of view and at sometimes too great a length, with spoilers abounding. Still, Leeming gives Baldwin's critics their say, even as he guides his readers back to the Baldwin oeuvre. Leeming provides the extensive, deeply knowledgeable baseline from which all Baldwin biographers must begin. More importantly for me, Leeming's biography makes a strong case for the significance of Baldwin's late novels, which have generally had more deteractors than admirers among the literary chattering classes, and has fortified me with a determination to read Baldwin's entire published catalogue, or at very least the three Library of America volumes (of which I've made progress in two). David Leeming has given us a profoundly sympathetic portrait of a complex, tormented man and how that man transformed his pain into art. It is an unusually candid, absolutely essential work on the life and work of a remarkable - and remarkably prophetic - human being. Review: A man of letters and Voice who still matters today. - Fascinating read about the life of a literary icon who battled oppression (sexual and racial). Baldwin was eloquent as a speaker and debater as well. You get a sense of the streets he walked in NYC and Paris. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #58,538 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #137 in Discrimination & Racism #169 in African American Demographic Studies (Books) #196 in Black & African American Biographies | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,060) | | Dimensions | 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.25 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 1628724382 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1628724387 | | Item Weight | 1.04 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 464 pages | | Publication date | February 24, 2015 | | Publisher | Arcade | ## Images ![James Baldwin: A Biography - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71A6Ur4ZkyL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Superb Account of Tormented Genius *by P***O on November 14, 2018* I'm old enough to remember the Freedom Riders, and the sit-ins, and Bull Connor, and Martin and Malcolm and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and so much more, all in black and white on a 19 inch Zenith. I've received unsubtle guidance and reading material from African-American comrades in arms during our Vietnam era military service. I've studied the history of the movement with a militant professor. I thought I had a reasonable, historically informed view of racism in America. Then I read Jimmy Baldwin, and this marvelous biography, and my world shifted. Baldwin saw himself as prophetic, and history bears his prophecies out. In one important essay after another, and then in his novels, Baldwin's analysis early in the 1960s of "the Negro problem" - as a "White problem" and as a perpetuation of racist mythologies that denigrate African Americans and elevate any and all whites (long before any talk of "white privilege" and its analysis, loosely analogous to that of Baldwin) - remains as cogent today as the day it was written. Biographer David Leeming was in an ideal position to render Baldwin the justice he fully deserves. Leeming does indefatigable service to his friend and sometime employer, combing the archives, reading every draft, all the unpublished manuscripts, letters, notes, outlines, tracking down and interviewing Baldwin intimates, casual acquaintances, editors, colleagues, drinking companions, lovers, and on and on, hiding nothing (apart from the occasional Baldwin paramour, in the interest of privacy) and placing Baldwin's life in superb context, showing, in detail after detail, how Baldwin, the consummate auto-novelist, placed his life and beliefs completely, exhaustively, redundantly, in myriad variations, on the page, and then walked the talk. Essential as both a tale of a turbulent time in our national life - with the awakening of the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and into the 1960s, a time of courageous protest, daring activism, horrific suppression, riots, assassinations, and waxing and waning political courage - and as a literary biography of a wholly self-made genius, who knew and befriended all the principal civil rights activists and who was himself the center of a literal movable literary feast - the list of Baldwin's prominent friends and admirers is a Who's Who of the times - from his early days in a Harlem ghetto, through three years as "boy preacher" who then left the church and his father's home on the same day, and on to international fame and literary acclaim as perhaps the most formidable bad conscience of his time. Leeming's work also passes muster as a commentary on Baldwin's novels, albeit from a very favorably biased point of view and at sometimes too great a length, with spoilers abounding. Still, Leeming gives Baldwin's critics their say, even as he guides his readers back to the Baldwin oeuvre. Leeming provides the extensive, deeply knowledgeable baseline from which all Baldwin biographers must begin. More importantly for me, Leeming's biography makes a strong case for the significance of Baldwin's late novels, which have generally had more deteractors than admirers among the literary chattering classes, and has fortified me with a determination to read Baldwin's entire published catalogue, or at very least the three Library of America volumes (of which I've made progress in two). David Leeming has given us a profoundly sympathetic portrait of a complex, tormented man and how that man transformed his pain into art. It is an unusually candid, absolutely essential work on the life and work of a remarkable - and remarkably prophetic - human being. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A man of letters and Voice who still matters today. *by L***L on March 30, 2025* Fascinating read about the life of a literary icon who battled oppression (sexual and racial). Baldwin was eloquent as a speaker and debater as well. You get a sense of the streets he walked in NYC and Paris. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Relatable *by L***N on January 15, 2024* James Baldwin's messages are timeless. He lived his life with the entire world in mind, he cared that much. His perseverance, his truth and confessions, and righteous anger has created a shift within me, a black millennial from the ghetto. I am grateful for coming across this beautifully written autobiography. Now on to the books :) ## Frequently Bought Together - James Baldwin: A Biography - I Am Not Your Negro (Vintage International) - Go Tell It on the Mountain (Vintage International) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/62241366-james-baldwin-a-biography](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/62241366-james-baldwin-a-biography) --- *Product available on Desertcart Great Britain* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-02*