James Baldwin's first novel, and considered largely autobiographical. It tells the story of John, age 14, as he approaches the time to be baptized and born again. Baldwin says he wrote the story to understand what happened in his own family, among his preacher-stepfather, eventually institutionalized, his mother, and his aunt. He manages to tell John's story, while unpacking the complex, tragic stories of his antecedents as well. Large-minded, compassionate, and graceful, this will be a hard novel to forget.
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