Just Above My Head: A Novel. by Baldwin, James - 1979

New York: The Dial Press, 1979. First edition of Baldwin's final novel "the work of a born storyteller at the height of his powers" (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, "To Peggy Thompson, Peace. James Baldwin. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Name to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Stonecastle Graphics. The stark grief of a brother mourning a brother opens this novel with a stunning, unforgettable experience. Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to a church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It On The Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land. "A work of passion... Glimpses of family life in Harlem, rapturous music-making in the churches, movements of uneasiness in even the most casual meetings between whites and blacks--scenes that Baldwin seems preternaturally gifted in understanding" (The New York Times Book Review).