First paperback edition of Baldwin's second play, dedicated to the memory of Medgar Evers and partially based on the 1955 murder of Emmett Till.
Very good plus.
Price: $50.00
The play's inspiration was partially suggested to him as a theatrical subject by Elia Kazan, and Kazan took credit for it early and often ("I gave him the idea for that play—'Do a play on the Till case'"). In consequence of Baldwin's refusal to give over his play to Kazan's direction (under an all-white board of Lincoln Center), or to revise his play to be more sympathetic to lynching supporters, some critics complained about the "flagrantly anti-white" characterization (Frank Corsaro) and use of the word "motherfucker" (Cheryl Crawford). Many reviews seethed, typified by Robert Brustein, who in THE NEW REPUBLIC wrote against the "uncontrolled, hysterical, self-indulgent" nature of Baldwin's "ugly rage," calling the play an "inflammatory broadside of race hatred" that committed the (still) unforgivable sin of making white audiences feel "guilt." The backlash was such that Amiri Baraka later declared, "After this play Jimmy was demoted to the margins of US literature by the living dead."
Read more: Markholt, "White Critic, Black Playwright: Water and Fire," Black World; Baraka, "Foreword," in Hatch & Shine, Black Theatre USA; Weatherby, James Baldwin: Artist on Fire; Brustein, "Everybody's Protest Play," The New Republic.
(New York): Dell, (1964). 6.5'' x 4.25''. Original color pictorial wrappers, Dell 0637, cover price 60c. All edges stained green. Publisher's ads at rear. 158, [2] pages. Minor discoloration to green stain of lower edge, very faint tidemark (close inspection only). Else sharp and sound.
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