If Beale Street Could Talk

VERY GOOD condition — DUST JACKET: Minor wear & tear to top and bottom edges of spine, panels, folds and flaps. Small chip, and closed tear to top edge, right side of spine. Very small tears, bottom edge of spine. Very small closed tear to top edge, upper left, back panel. Small crease to top outside edge, back flap. BOARDS: A couple of small flaws to cloth, front. BOOK: Nice topstain. Ink writing on FFEP. Please inspect photos closely for condition details. Any questions: please ask.

Here on offer is a very nice copy of James Baldwin's Harlem love story, If Beale Street Could Talk, his 5th novel and the basis for the 2018 film of the same name. This copy is a 1st trade edition, 1st printing of the work published by Dial Press in 1974. The dust jacket is protected from further wear by a Mylar sleeve.

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"Like the blues--sweet, sad, and full of truth--this masterful work of fiction rocks us with powerful emotions. In it are anger and pain, but above all, love--the affirmative love of a woman for her man, the sustaining love of the black family. Fonny, a talented young artist, finds himself unjustly arrested and locked in New York's infamous Tombs. But his girlfriend, Tish, is determined to free him, and to have his baby, in this starkly realistic tale... a powerful indictment of American concepts of justice and punishment in our time."

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James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim for his work across several forms, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953; decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005. His first essay collection, Notes of a Native Son, was published in 1955.

Baldwin's work fictionalizes fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that run parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth century America, such as the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement. . . .

His reputation has endured since his death and his work has been adapted for the screen to great acclaim. . . . One of his novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into the Academy Award– winning film of the same name in 2018, directed and produced by Barry Jenkins.

In addition to writing, Baldwin was also a well-known public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.

The above text was taken from, respectively, Dial Press publishers (via Google Books) and Wikipedia.