Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own Hardcover – June 30, 2020
by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars 308 ratings
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • James Baldwin grew disillusioned by the failure of the civil rights movement to force America to confront its lies about race. In our own moment, when that confrontation feels more urgently needed than ever, what can we learn from his struggle?
“In the midst of an ugly Trump regime and a beautiful Baldwin revival, Eddie Glaude has plunged to the profound depths and sublime heights of Baldwin’s prophetic challenge to our present-day crisis.”—Cornel West
We live, according to Eddie S. Glaude Jr., in a moment when the struggles of Black Lives Matter and the attempt to achieve a new America have been challenged by the election of Donald Trump, a president whose victory represents yet another failure of America to face the lies it tells itself about race. From Charlottesville to the policies of child separation at the border, his administration turned its back on the promise of Obama’s presidency and refused to embrace a vision of the country shorn of the insidious belief that white people matter more than others.
We have been here before: For James Baldwin, these after times came in the wake of the civil rights movement, when a similar attempt to compel a national confrontation with the truth was answered with the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In these years, spanning from the publication of The Fire Next Time in 1963 to that of No Name in the Street in 1972, Baldwin transformed into a more overtly political writer, a change that came at great professional and personal cost. But from that journey, Baldwin emerged with a sense of renewed purpose about the necessity of pushing forward in the face of disillusionment and despair.
In the story of Baldwin’s crucible, Glaude suggests, we can find hope and guidance through our own after times, this Trumpian era of shattered promises and white retrenchment. Mixing biography—drawn partially from newly uncovered interviews—with history, memoir, and trenchant analysis of our current moment, Begin Again is Glaude’s endeavor, following Baldwin, to bear witness to the difficult truth of race in America today. It is at once a searing exploration that lays bare the tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, and a powerful interrogation of what we all must ask of ourselves in order to call forth a new America.
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“A penetrating study of how the words of James Baldwin continue to have (often painful) relevance today. . . . In prose that is eloquent and impassioned—sometimes hopeful, sometimes not—the author presses his fingers on our bruises, the ones many of us would prefer to ignore. . . . Baldwin's genius glimmers throughout as Glaude effectively demonstrates how truth does not die with the one who spoke it.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“In this powerful and elegant book on James Baldwin, Eddie Glaude weaves together a biography, a meditation, a literary analysis, and a moral essay on America. Like Baldwin’s own essays and books, it is at times both loving and angry, challenging and uplifting, and always beautiful. Both Baldwin and this book speak directly to today.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci
“Begin Again is an unparalleled masterpiece of social criticism. Glaude thinks alongside America’s finest essayist, matching the master’s firepower, brilliance, courage, and sensitivity at every turn. He pushes, prods and disrobes history, forcing us to face uncomfortable truths and insisting upon our better inheritances. Glaude’s stunningly crafted prose—incisive, vulnerable, and beautiful—is as breathtaking as his brilliance. This book is precisely the witness we need for our treacherous times.”—Imani Perry, author of Breathe and Looking for Lorraine
“In this searing, provocative, and ultimately hopeful book, Eddie Glaude, Jr., takes us on a fascinating journey through the mind and heart of James Baldwin. But a parallel odyssey through Glaude’s own formidable mind and generous heart unfolds as well—an odyssey that tells us much about the way we live now and how we might come to live if we could, to borrow a phrase of Lincoln’s, think anew and act anew. One need not agree with everything in these pages to learn much from them, and for Americans seeking to understand our past, our present, and the possible futures before us, Begin Again challenges, illuminates, and points us toward, if not a more perfect union, at least a more just one.”—Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America and Destiny and Power
“In the marrow of Eddie Glaude’s Begin Again is a rugged literary miracle. In evocative prose, Glaude showed me how we might use the unexceptional yet brutal nightmare of Trumpism to not simply better understand the work and life of James Baldwin, but how that discovery must also lead us as people, not simply as a nation, to ‘begin again’ and walk collectively toward actual liberation.”—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy
“Eddie Glaude is such a terrific writer. In Begin Again, as he wrestles with James Baldwin’s work and fraught relationship to the United States, Glaude’s work is urgent, pained, and strangely hopeful. He is issuing a call to reckoning: not just with the dishonesty of America's founding promises, but with the tolls that its intrinsic racism has taken on the artists and thinkers who have come before. Glaude reminds readers of the inescapability of struggle and of the responsibility of consciousness, making explicit how our history underpins our current political moment. It's a great book.”—Rebecca Traister, author of and Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger
“How often, amid the ongoing violence and division of our current chapter of American history, have I been made to recall not only the piercing brilliance of James Baldwin, but also his discomfiting prescience? ‘An old world is dying,’ he wrote in No Name in the Street, ‘and a new one, kicking in the belly of its mother, time, announces that it is ready to be born.’ The magic of Begin Again is that it allows us to ponder Baldwin both in his perilous era and in our own. Remarkable, and remarkably relevant.”—Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Life on Mars
“Begin Again is a magnificent book filled with the type of passion, lyricism, and fire that James Baldwin commands and deserves. Eddie Glaude Jr. takes us on a unique and illuminating journey through Baldwin’s life and writings by both physically and philosophically following in his footsteps. In this phenomenal work, we are treated to a timeless and spellbinding conversation between two brilliant writers, thinkers, and active witnesses, addressing issues—past, present, and future—that are necessary, urgent, and vital for our survival.”—Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying and Everything Inside
About the Author
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of Democracy in Black.
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Product details
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Crown (June 30, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525575324
ISBN-13: 978-0525575320
Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 4.9 out of 5 stars309 customer ratings
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#4 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)
#1 in U.S. Immigrant History
#1 in Author Biographies
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Biography
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of Democracy in Black
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james baldwin eddie glaude professor glaude race relations value gap history lesson beautifully written people of color relevance to us today required reading read this book baldwin offered these words must read begin again by eddie glaude writing american lie country current nation
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Senex Magister
5.0 out of 5 stars Begin Again by Eddie Glaude
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2020
I just finished this book which, I believe, is ground breaking in our understanding of Race Relations in this nation today and how African Americans view their place in American Society and Government. It is also a reexamination of the writing of James Baldwin and his role in Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th Century. Professor Glaude has challenged me to read and learn much more about James Baldwin which I realize that I am sorely lacking. I believe this is true of most White Americans and especially is true of the current Administration of Donald Trump. His mantra of “Make America Great Again” is a naive euphemism of “Make America White Again” and has continued to deny the divisive impact his policies has had on the suffering of racial bigotry for people of color in this country. These are Americans Citizens whom he swore to protect and defend when he took his oath of office. The President also refuses to admit the presence of “White Privilege” in almost every aspect of American life and what is more egregious is not using the influence of his office to push back against this immoral and unAmerican attitude. If we try to convince ourselves that Constitutional Government as it envisioned in the late 18th Century made the United States an exceptional nation, we deceive the world community in what democratic government ought to be. Jeffersonian ideals of life, liberty and equality as well as the Madisonian ideal of separation of power with its belief in checks and balance failed with the outbreak of the American Civil War. If there was a second awakening with the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, it was shown to be a failure with the end of Reconstruction and the introduction of the Jim Crow Era with the election in 1878 of Rutherford B. Hayes. The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 turned our nation inward and away from social justice for all Americans. Let’s be hopeful that our nation is experiencing a new Epiphany and Renaissance as a free people showing our rejection of authoritarianism and nations that want to see an end to democratic government in the United States. Be sure to vote in November to bring an end to tyranny and replace it with a government which cares about American lives.
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98 people found this helpful
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Alex Saperstein / Oregon
5.0 out of 5 stars This book will stay with me forever.
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2020
I think Begin Again will be on my bedside stand for the rest of my life. Glaude's own writing, and not just the amazing passages he includes of Baldwin's, moved me profoundly. I've been reading it slowly all week long, putting it down often because it is so challenging, so beautifully written, and achingly wrenching to read. I'm buying copies for my niblings, and for friends. Sometimes books come along and you know you will be changed by them hopefully forever. This is one of those books.
75 people found this helpful
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Shark🦈
4.0 out of 5 stars Did you know.....
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2020
This book kind of connects with this book called "Theories Of A Mastermind" by James Moultrie. I feel like you cant read this and not read that one aswell. These books are well written and give you a whole new outlook and new foundation to your behavior. A radical change will take place within yourself. !!!
75 people found this helpful
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Dante Stewart
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Glaude does it again!
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2020
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An absolutely stunning engagement with one of the most important literary minds in America. Dr. Glaude once again has written a word for this moment as we wrestle with the deepest questions of democracy. If you’re concerned about change, read this book.
54 people found this helpful
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Gloria
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding History Lesson!
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2020
As a correctional employee currently working in a private prison, Begin Again presented an important historical perspective that has helped me to gain empathy and the courage to move forward in life. After over three years of Trump's ugly, racist and misogynistic regime, I felt I would rather die than endure another four years of this gross human being who is representing all of us.
Mr. Glaude's writing is exhilarating; when he is on Morning Joe I am captivated by his words of wisdom. Now, if Mr. Glaude could just explain to me how we ever elected such a despicable person to the most prestigious office in the world … and how our Senate could ever follow (and not impeach) such a deviant. I am disappointed in our elected Republican leaders beyond words … no, not really … they will all be the compost heap of history.
56 people found this helpful
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S. Rosenfeld
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for this moment and for any moment
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2020
This is a must-read for those of us who were shaped by the works of James Baldwin. Professor Glaude masterfully reflects on our predicament today through the prism of Baldwin’s words back then. It’s more than “I am Not Your Negro”, a long cinematic soliloquy, quoting Baldwin, which was beautiful in its own right. This work of art uses Baldwin’s words as rich and varied pigments, applied to the page with care by Glaude’s brilliant brush. In this way, Begin Again achieves the originality of a joint enterprise.
44 people found this helpful
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Internezzo
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading. Period.
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2020
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Prof. Eddie Glaude, Jr. 's eloquent prose is the perfect framework for an examination of the life, work and insights of James Baldwin which resonate so strongly in these times.
25 people found this helpful
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Bernard . Pucker
5.0 out of 5 stars We all must Begin Again
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
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An in depth and profound exploration of the complex writings and life of James Baldwin. An opportunity to clearly understand the layers of lies that have been built and embraced by almost all Americans with tragic results. Only now is the potential for devastating disaster or change upon us. Baldwin was the Witness to the constant oppression and humiliation that made up the experience of Black Americans and in doing so prepared the way for the monstrosity of the present administration. Glaude challenges all of us to make sure that the lie does not endure and that we stand up for change that allows all to be respected and have a part of the American promise.
16 people found this helpful
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