Baldwin was a proficient writer. He produced scores of reviews, essays, plays, short stories, and novels. The following is a short list of what is widely regarded as his most important works and a short description of their content or significance.
Baldwin wrote “Everybody’s Protest Novel” (1949) shortly after his arrival in Paris. The essay attacked the ideology traditionally found in protest novels. Many, including Richard Wright, saw the article as a personal attack on Wright and his works. Not surprisingly, this caused a rift, but not a break, in the friendship between the two authors.
Go Tell It on the Mountain, which Baldwin had worked on for years under various titles, was finally finished during a trip to Switzerland. When New York publisher Alfred Knopf expressed interest in publishing the work, Baldwin returned to America on a ticked bought with a loan from Marlon Brando. His novel was published a year later in 1953 and received rave reviews.
It was in Paris that his next work, The Amen Corner (1954), was published. A novel about a young man who leaves his home and church to become a musician and find himself can be seen as a continuation of Mountain and, like his previous novel, is partially autobiographical.
Notes of a Native Son (1955), a collection of Baldwin’s essays from 1948 to 1955, was his next major work. Some pieces like “Everybody’s Protest Novel” had been previously published, but others were seen for the first time in this publication.
Giovanni’s Room (1956) tells the story of David, an American living in Paris who falls in love with an Italian bartender named Giovanni. In an attempt to deny the true nature of his sexuality, the protagonist proposes to an American girl and leaves Giovanni, who, jilted, commits a murder and is executed. The woman leaves David when it becomes clear that their relationship is a failure, and David returns to his past life, full of anguish for his lost Giovanni. Baldwin was nervous before the publication of this novel because he saw that, with its publication, he would no longer be able to hide the fact of his own homosexuality from his family, and he feared their rejection.
“Sonny’s Blues” (1957) is the story of two brothers. Sonny is a musician who is also a heroin addict. His brother, instilled with a feeling of responsibility for his sibling by their mother, tries to understand Sonny and his addiction.
Another Country (1962) tells the story of a Jazz musician who is deeply hurt by racism and thus unable to trust anyone and so unable to give or accept love.
Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone (1968) tells the tale of a young man from Harlem and his rise to fame as an actor. It chronicles the events of his life and his struggles with his sexuality and lovers.
The relationship between two lovers and their families is the focus of If Beale Street Could Talk (1974). The novel concerns the hypocrisy found in the church and relationships between family members—especially sisters, who for the first time make a serious appearance in Baldwin’s work.
In Just Above My Head (1979), the narrator, Hal, tells the story of a dearly loved brother and a happy childhood. The Millers, friends of Hal’s family, were not so lucky. Mrs. Miller died when their daughter Julia, a successful child-preacher, was 14 years old. To escape her brutal and sexually abusive father, Julia becomes a prostitute. Through a seemingly endless string of trials, Hal and Julia settle down in neighboring towns to enjoy middle age and middle class. It is one of Baldwin’s sermons on the importance of choosing love over security.
