Jamie's Reviews > Notes of a Native Son

Oh, just stunning. I've finally settled on Baldwin that I can unreservedly adore. "Another Country" annoyed me; "Giovanni's Room" I found frequently beautiful but ideologically frustrating (and sometimes uneven, stylistically). This, this, this! just incredible front to back. The title essay offers a powerful account of Baldwin's sense of coming to identity; his literary disputes are whipsmart and funny and important; and his essays on Paris among the v best writing I've read on expatriate formations/communities and national identity. I want to read the collection again already.