{"product_id":"letter-to-jimmy-9781593766016","title":"Letter to Jimmy","description":"Written on the twentieth anniversary of James Baldwin's death, Letter to Jimmy is African writer Alain Mabanckou's ode to his literary hero and an effort to place Baldwin's life in context within the greater African diaspora. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBeginning with a chance encounter with a beggar wandering along a Santa Monica beach--a man whose ragged clothes and unsteady gait remind the author of a character out of one of James Baldwin's novels-- Mabanckou uses his own experiences as an African living in the US as a launching pad to take readers on a fascinating tour of James Baldwin's life. As Mabanckou reads Baldwin's work, looks at pictures of him through the years, and explores Baldwin's checkered publishing history, he is always probing for answers about what it must have been like for the young Baldwin to live abroad as an African-American, to write obliquely about his own homosexuality, and to seek out mentors like Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison only to publicly reject them\u003cbr\u003elater. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Mabanckou travels to Paris, reads about French history and engages with contemporary readers, his letters to Baldwin grow more intimate and personal. He speaks to Baldwin as a peer--a writer who paved the way for his own work, and Mabanckou seems to believe, someone who might understand his experiences as an African expatriate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Soft Skull Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/16\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781593766016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Lambda Literary Awards - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2014 pg. 10\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2014 pg. 85\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/24\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/23\/2014\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Alain Mabanckou","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36661031960732,"sku":"9781593766016","price":12.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_f1f82eee-58e4-4ce0-ab5f-00bbc5b95d47.jpg?v=1603898244","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/letter-to-jimmy-9781593766016","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}