Just Above My Head

"This is my favorite novel by James Baldwin ; it was his last one, published in 1979. You don’t hear as much about it as you do about his early novels. I’ve always been a bit grumpy that Another Country and Giovanni’s Room get so much more attention. It’s probably because, as memories of the heyday of the civil rights movement faded, Baldwin was no longer considered by many as in touch with the central voice of the culture. Maybe his positions were too complex for his novels to fit popular tastes. “Baldwin shows us that one can repair oneself with love” The novel’s set-up involves the main character (also the narrator) telling the story of his beloved and charismatic young brother Arthur, who is gay and has a glow about him. That, together with his remarkable musical talents, enables an enormous career as a singer. It’s an amazing story about the way that siblings retain love for each other in a world that puts that love to the test in many ways. It’s also about the beauty of sexual love between two black men, Arthur and his one-time bandmate Crunch. It’s a lovely novel, but also a pretty dark one. One of the main characters is sexually abused by her father at a young age, but all the characters have been damaged by abuses and societal pressures in ways that you might think are irreparable. Baldwin shows us that one can repair oneself with love. Love stories often raise issues of social class and wealth. Love stories often involve disparities, whether it’s beauty and the beast or princess and pauper. The title on my list that really interestingly exemplifies this is A True Novel ."