BALDWIN: A Love Story

“Nicholas Boggs’s monumental biography considers James Baldwin through the prism of love, placing four beloved men at the center of his writing, his activism, his political consciousness, his philosophy, and his life. We have been presented with many partial Baldwins over the years, but here is the whole loveable man: the radical and the celebrity, the civil rights hero and the downtown playwright, the cosmopolitan jet-setter and the son of East Harlem. Compulsively interesting and beautifully written—there is something to treasure on every page. I absolutely loved it.” – Zadie Smith

“Gorgeous. Nicholas Boggs’s storytelling, so tenderly rendered, brings us the beautiful yet tattered heart of not only Baldwin the intellectual and artist, but Baldwin the vulnerable, yearning, flesh-and-blood person. This book is so important and timely.” – Imani Perry, National Book Award winner for South to America

“Nicholas Boggs’s meticulously researched and passionately written Baldwin is the crown jewel of the ongoing James Baldwin revival. Boggs, in seamless fashion, vividly recounts the personal life of America’s brave Black novelist, essayist, gay liberation oracle, and civil rights activist. Replete with freshly unearthed revelations about Baldwin’s intimate relationships, this epic biography captures Baldwin in full. Highly recommended!” – Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history at Rice University, and author of Rosa Parks: A Life

“James Baldwin spent his life being a witness to the world, and for the first time, in Baldwin: A Love Story, we are a witness to him. Nicholas Boggs shows us Baldwin’s brilliance, his desire to change the world, as well as his loneliness, his desire for domesticity, and his determination to leave something behind that would ultimately become our inheritance. So grateful for this stunning work.” – Lena Waithe, Emmy Award–winning writer, producer, and actor

“Through this gloriously written and exhaustively researched page-turner of a biography, I’ve just spent the past few weeks moving through the 20th century with one of the world’s most brilliant writers. I’m better for it.” – Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow

“Magnificent…Nicholas Boggs’ Baldwin is a formidable achievement, beautifully written, engrossing, and extremely intimate. Boggs’ long journey as the biographer becomes a wild and most improbable treasure hunt where he unearths more than one poignant love story. James Baldwin’s life is revealed in all its triumphs and agonies.”  – Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer – the inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMER

“A virtuosic feat of literary imagination, rhapsodic, and transportive. Stunningly, it answers not only the question of who James Baldwin was but how he made and remade his art and his world. Fast-paced and, at times, movingly tender, with love palpable throughout, the total effect is symphonic. This book deserves a standing ovation.” – Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master, Slave, Husband, Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

James Baldwin’s LITTLE MAN, LITTLE MAN, edited by Nicholas Boggs

“. . . it could scarcely be more timely. It’s arriving at a moment when children’s book authors and publishers are more frequently placing black and brown children at the center of narratives about everyday life, often taking on charged social issues like mass shootings, addiction and police violence against African-American youth.” – Alexandra Alter, The New York Times. Read the full review.

“Pulled from the past, this is a brilliant exploration of black childhood with profound emotional depth, drawn from the grace and struggles of community and reinforcing the truth that no one knows Harlem like Baldwin.” – Kirkus Reviews

“A vivid perspective that is both moving and enriching . . . It is a story of childhood, from a particular time and place, captured in colloquial language that is freighted at once with innocence, pain and tenderness.” – Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal

“A book to study and discuss at length. . . . The story’s profound depth stems from the implication that childhood innocence is a myth. Baldwin implies, as he does in his other work, that claiming innocence to racism (by adults and children alike) is a poor excuse for avoiding the difficult work required to grapple with it. Baldwin’s story of childhood forces the reader to grapple.” – Jenny Gapp, School Library Connection