Length5h 3m
About this audiobook
At last, a new audio edition of the book many have called James Baldwin's most influential work!
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in "The Harlem Ghetto" to a sobering "Journey to Atlanta."
Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright's work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise.
Notes is the book that established Baldwin's voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.4 (27.9K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreLiterary Classics, Psychology, Politics and Government
Length5 hrs 3 mins
Narrated byRon Butler
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateFeb 3, 2015
LanguageEnglish
More from James Baldwin
If Beale Street Could TalkJames Baldwin7h 7m4.3 (109.5K)$17
Another CountryJames Baldwin16h 13m4.4 (42.7K)$30
Nobody Knows My NameJames Baldwin5h 49m4.5 (5.2K)$17
No Name in the StreetJames Baldwin5h4.5 (8.5K)$20 · $0.00
Going to Meet the ManJames Baldwin7h 48m4.4 (12.6K)$22 · $0.00
Four Great AmericansJames Baldwin4h 14m3.7 (114)$10
The Devil Finds WorkJames Baldwin3h 41m4.5 (4.4K)$17
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m4.6 (159.1K)$15
Four Great AmericansJames Baldwin4h 9m3.7 (114)$8
Great American Authors Read from Their Works, Vol. 1James Baldwin, William Styron, James Jones, Philip Roth1h 16m4.0 (10)$15
James Baldwin Reading from Another CountryJames Baldwin16m4.5 (40)$1
James Baldwin Reading from Giovanni’s RoomJames Baldwin15m$1
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
What to Make of a LifeJim Collins13h 31m4.4 (793)$33 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
TerraformPropaganda5h 39m4.7 (594)$24 · $0.00
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett2h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m4.6 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
Level UpRob Dial7h 42m4.6 (3.3K)$26 · $0.00
As a JewSarah Hurwitz8h 36m4.6 (1.2K)$26 · $0.00
Burn the HaystackJennie Young, PhD9h 30m4.6 (543)$29 · $0.00
Woman and the New Race (Annotated)Margaret Sanger6h 30m4.6 (1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Good InsideBecky Kennedy9h 55m4.5 (59.3K)$29 · $0.00
Du Bois: EssaysW.E.B. Du Bois6h 22m4.6 (1.5K)$1 · $0.00
The North American Indian (Illustrated Edition)Edward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge5h 59m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Valley of the BirdtailAndrew Stobo Sniderman, Douglas Sanderson10h 1m4.6 (2.4K)$29 · $0.00
Lies My Therapist Told MeGreg E. Gifford9h 3m4.6 (503)$29 · $0.00
Disturbed in Their NestsAlephonsion Deng, Judy A. Bernstein11h 22m4.6 (595)$23 · $0.00
No Name in the StreetJames Baldwin5h4.5 (8.5K)$20 · $0.00
Magic SeasonWade Rouse6h 41m4.6 (855)$24 · $0.00
Consent Laid BareChanel Contos7h 11m4.5 (1.7K)$24 · $0.00
The Big RevealSasha Velour6h 15m4.5 (2.1K)$24 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
KrantikariSanjeev Sanyal11h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$16 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m4.6 (4.2K)$23 · $0.00
SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m4.7 (589)$26 · $0.00
Citizenship in a Republic (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt2h 44m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m4.5 (9.3K)$8 · $0.00
My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m4.6 (2.9K)$23 · $0.00
A Revolution of Common SenseScott Jennings9h 29m4.6 (528)$29 · $0.00
Statement From the Dock at the Rivonia TrialNelson Mandela2h 18m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
Lessons from the EdgeMarie Yovanovitch17h 11m4.5 (5.9K)$40 · $0.00
To Rescue the American SpiritBret Baier10h 12m4.5 (2.7K)$8 · $0.00
StonewalledSharyl Attkisson15h 19m4.5 (4.3K)$33 · $0.00
The World According to Orwell: 1984 & Animal FarmGeorge Orwell15h 42m4.6 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00
Basic EconomicsThomas Sowell18h 32m4.5 (29.3K)$28 · $0.00
To Rescue the RepublicBret Baier, Catherine Whitney11h 42m4.5 (8.6K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Unfinished BusinessVivian Gornick4h 28m3.8 (1.6K)$15 · $0.00
As We ExistKaoutar Harchi3h 16m4.1 (563)$15
UlyssesJames Joyce28h 16m4.0 (176.6K)Free
Virginia Woolf: The Complete WorksVirginia Woolf314h 29m4.5 (2.2K)$1 · $0.00
UlyssesJames Joyce30h 36m4.0 (179.7K)$2.30
THE COMPLETE ESSAYS OF MONTAIGNE (Annotated Edition)Michel de Montaigne46h 38m4.3 (22.6K)$1 · $0.00
UlyssesJames Joyce30h 40m4.0 (177.2K)$1.80 · $0.00
JAMES JOYCE Premium Collection: Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Dubliners, Chamber Music & ExilesJames Joyce53h 5m4.5 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00
The London Scene: Six Essays on London (Annotated)Virginia Woolf2h 40m4.0 (4.3K)$3 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce10h 48m3.8 (206.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Writer's LibraryNancy Pearl, Jeff Schwager11h 22m4.0 (1.7K)$29 · $0.00
UndiscoveredGabriela Wiener4h 11m3.9 (6.5K)$20 · $0.00
The Odd Woman and the CityVivian Gornick4h 29m3.9 (9.4K)$20 · $0.00
India: A Million Mutinies NowV. S. Naipaul24h 46m4.0 (2.6K)$30
UlyssesJames Joyce30h 45m3.9 (166.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
This Is One Way to DanceSejal Shah4h 53m4.1 (685)$15
A WRITER'S DIARYVirginia Woolf14h 32m4.3 (8.1K)$1 · $0.00
Before I was a Critic I was a Human BeingAmy Fung4h 40m4.2 (259)$24 · $0.00
LamentsJan Kochanowski1h 12m4.2 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00