Scan barcode
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: This is a narrow book on Baldwin in the last years of his life focusing on the books/articles/works toward the end of his life and the cultural history of the era that influenced those final (several unpublished) works.
I was born in the early 1970s. I remember Regan being elected, but it was very early consciousness for me. I graduated from high school in 91 and James Baldwin had passed away before I was even aware of his name. While I have been doing a lot of reading of history lately, I have not read much on large scale history since the early 70s even though this was not mostly about the larger history of the 80s, there was enough context to be helpful to think about what the broader cultural history was all about.
The most interesting chapters for me were 4 and 5. The fourth chapter was about the rise of the moral majority and Baldwin as critic of Christianity. As someone that read a lot of theology for fun and has been to seminary, I think Baldwin gets some aspects of Christianity wrong. But in some ways that are fairly common even among Christians. And I think that he gets a lot of his critique of the Televangelists and Moral Majority right because of their lack of focus on the oppressed.
The fifth chapter on the Atlanta Child murders was fascinating to me because I have been in Atlanta area for just over a decade now. I am not from here, but my wife's family is. So this chapter is local history. I did hear from a friend that there was some DNA connection to Williams and some of the murder victims so that would be interesting to have teased out a bit. But also it seems likely to me that there was a racial component to the murders as well. It was 1981 that a Black man was shot in Cumming for simply being in the town (it was a sunset town with no Black residents in the whole county until almost 2000-you can read Blood at the Root for more about that.)
I appreciated some of the directly connections between Baldwin and how he is understood today especially as a father figure for the Black Lives Matters moment.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/james-baldwin-and-the-1980s/
I was born in the early 1970s. I remember Regan being elected, but it was very early consciousness for me. I graduated from high school in 91 and James Baldwin had passed away before I was even aware of his name. While I have been doing a lot of reading of history lately, I have not read much on large scale history since the early 70s even though this was not mostly about the larger history of the 80s, there was enough context to be helpful to think about what the broader cultural history was all about.
The most interesting chapters for me were 4 and 5. The fourth chapter was about the rise of the moral majority and Baldwin as critic of Christianity. As someone that read a lot of theology for fun and has been to seminary, I think Baldwin gets some aspects of Christianity wrong. But in some ways that are fairly common even among Christians. And I think that he gets a lot of his critique of the Televangelists and Moral Majority right because of their lack of focus on the oppressed.
The fifth chapter on the Atlanta Child murders was fascinating to me because I have been in Atlanta area for just over a decade now. I am not from here, but my wife's family is. So this chapter is local history. I did hear from a friend that there was some DNA connection to Williams and some of the murder victims so that would be interesting to have teased out a bit. But also it seems likely to me that there was a racial component to the murders as well. It was 1981 that a Black man was shot in Cumming for simply being in the town (it was a sunset town with no Black residents in the whole county until almost 2000-you can read Blood at the Root for more about that.)
I appreciated some of the directly connections between Baldwin and how he is understood today especially as a father figure for the Black Lives Matters moment.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/james-baldwin-and-the-1980s/
colin_cox's review against another edition
3.0
Joseph Vogel's James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era is a truncated yet important glimpse at what the author characterizes as an ignored and discounted period of Baldwin's life as a writer and cultural critic. However, James Baldwin and the 1980s is less of a theoretical text than I expected. Vogel's book investigates how Baldwin's work from the 1980s "directly engages with the cultural moment in which it was written" (21). In this respect, James Baldwin and the 1980s explores how we should think of Baldwin's work from this period: as a mirror.
The book's final two chapters, on Evangelical Christianity and racism in Atlanta respectably, are easily the book's best. While Chapter 2 examines the effect Reagan had on notions of masculinity (notions that, frankly, seem antiquated and restrictive 40 years later), Chapters 4 and 5 showcase Reagan's enduring impact on America's cultural and political consciousness. Nostalgia for the 80s, think of shows like Stranger Things, hides how the 80s remain with far too many of us. This extends to our beliefs, policies, and institutional norms. While searching for and longing for the 80s, we fail to recognize how it never really left us. In this way, Baldwin's work for the 1980s is more than a mirror, because according to Vogel, "His words speak to the present in ways that seem not only relevant but also prophetic" (114).
Perhaps I want more from James Baldwin and the 1980s. I want a more developed theoretical framework. I want more than five chapters. While I like, enjoy, and appreciate James Baldwin and the 1980s, I simply want more.
The book's final two chapters, on Evangelical Christianity and racism in Atlanta respectably, are easily the book's best. While Chapter 2 examines the effect Reagan had on notions of masculinity (notions that, frankly, seem antiquated and restrictive 40 years later), Chapters 4 and 5 showcase Reagan's enduring impact on America's cultural and political consciousness. Nostalgia for the 80s, think of shows like Stranger Things, hides how the 80s remain with far too many of us. This extends to our beliefs, policies, and institutional norms. While searching for and longing for the 80s, we fail to recognize how it never really left us. In this way, Baldwin's work for the 1980s is more than a mirror, because according to Vogel, "His words speak to the present in ways that seem not only relevant but also prophetic" (114).
Perhaps I want more from James Baldwin and the 1980s. I want a more developed theoretical framework. I want more than five chapters. While I like, enjoy, and appreciate James Baldwin and the 1980s, I simply want more.
toofondofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This book took me a while to read but I’m so glad that I kept going with it because it’s a fascinating read. I’ve read a couple of James Baldwin’s well-known books but I didn’t know as much about him and the context of when he was writing as I thought I did. This book covers sexuality, racism and the AIDS crisis all in the context of the 1980s and the political agenda of the time. I was fascinated by the chapter on AIDS and the play that Baldwin wrote that has never been published. The author brought this play, and the themes Baldwin was exploring, to life for me so whilst I might never get a chance to see or read this play I have an understanding of the work now. I was also fascinated by the chapter that focused on the Atlanta child murders. I’d heard about these murders from watching Mindhunter on Netflix but didn’t know anymore about it than that so I was appalled to read more of the background and aftermath of this case. Baldwin was fascinated by the focus on race and sexuality during the case and had a lot to say about how the case was handled. I’ve now put Baldwin’s Evidence of Things Not Seen on my wish list and I think this will be the next book of his that I pick up. This is quite an academic book but it’s absolutely well worth a read, I recommend it!
This review was originally posted on my blog https://rathertoofondofbooks.com
This review was originally posted on my blog https://rathertoofondofbooks.com
tashtonnes's review against another edition
4.0
First of all I love love love James Baldwin and this book is obviously about James Baldwin so it already meets a lot of my criteria for a good book.
This book is an attempt to combat the claim that Baldwin's latter works (so those from, as the title might suggest, the 1980s) were less relevant to his context and ours. To do this, the book identifies several key themes from the 1980s, matches a particular theme to one of Baldwin's works from the 1980s, and shows the ways in which Baldwin's work was in fact in a dialogue with these particular themes from the 1980s.
This book is obviously in service of a nobel cause, and it's really excellent for providing some contextual knowledge about America in the 1980s, Baldwin's works and Baldwin himself. I love it for that and I'm glad I have this knowledge. However, because this book, for me, largely served as a device to provide context, I was left kinda unsatisfied. I was left feeling as though this book wasn't as meaty or as detailed as I wanted it to be. Part of my problem was probably that I was unable to identify what literary niche this book fit in, so I was left unsure of what to expect from it. Again though, I'm still happy I read it even though I remain a bit unsatisfied.
This book is an attempt to combat the claim that Baldwin's latter works (so those from, as the title might suggest, the 1980s) were less relevant to his context and ours. To do this, the book identifies several key themes from the 1980s, matches a particular theme to one of Baldwin's works from the 1980s, and shows the ways in which Baldwin's work was in fact in a dialogue with these particular themes from the 1980s.
This book is obviously in service of a nobel cause, and it's really excellent for providing some contextual knowledge about America in the 1980s, Baldwin's works and Baldwin himself. I love it for that and I'm glad I have this knowledge. However, because this book, for me, largely served as a device to provide context, I was left kinda unsatisfied. I was left feeling as though this book wasn't as meaty or as detailed as I wanted it to be. Part of my problem was probably that I was unable to identify what literary niche this book fit in, so I was left unsure of what to expect from it. Again though, I'm still happy I read it even though I remain a bit unsatisfied.
kevinhu's review against another edition
4.0
I will be honest, after dabbling with Baldwin through my initial read of 'Go Tell It on the Mountain' and having been inundated with myriad think pieces and Op-Eds in our current Baldwin revival, the man still remains a mystery to me. But it is very much like novelists and literary minds to write the first draft of the hermeneutics of our culture and politics.
I really enjoyed the way Vogel engages with each part of Baldwin's artistry - both books fiction and nonfiction, and plays - to make sense of his era's enigmatic black voice. On the one hand, for his ability to tap into the American zeitgeist, there was a pressure to throw on the cloak of direct activism. Yet on the other hand, Baldwin was gay, and dealt with the constant dissonance of how sexual ethics was conceived within the black community. Then, there were the string of assassinations of all who chose to spread the gospel of social equality, equity, civil rights, and the march to freedom. Baldwin had to weigh out not only how he could best dissect the surreptitious politics that disenfranchised black lives but also what form his voice would be most effectively received. In addition, he had to think about what it meant for him to simply live.
Vogel knits all of these pieces together to give us a very satisfying impression of a portrait of James Baldwin in relation to the progressivism of his time and to show us why his words have become especially poignant as our politics of sexuality continues to evolve (into what James Baldwin had always envisioned on the level of societal acceptance) and increasingly comprehensive understanding of systemic racism continues to spread like a contagion, rescuing public consciousness from the lie that racism has been eradicated.
This ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the way Vogel engages with each part of Baldwin's artistry - both books fiction and nonfiction, and plays - to make sense of his era's enigmatic black voice. On the one hand, for his ability to tap into the American zeitgeist, there was a pressure to throw on the cloak of direct activism. Yet on the other hand, Baldwin was gay, and dealt with the constant dissonance of how sexual ethics was conceived within the black community. Then, there were the string of assassinations of all who chose to spread the gospel of social equality, equity, civil rights, and the march to freedom. Baldwin had to weigh out not only how he could best dissect the surreptitious politics that disenfranchised black lives but also what form his voice would be most effectively received. In addition, he had to think about what it meant for him to simply live.
Vogel knits all of these pieces together to give us a very satisfying impression of a portrait of James Baldwin in relation to the progressivism of his time and to show us why his words have become especially poignant as our politics of sexuality continues to evolve (into what James Baldwin had always envisioned on the level of societal acceptance) and increasingly comprehensive understanding of systemic racism continues to spread like a contagion, rescuing public consciousness from the lie that racism has been eradicated.
This ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
toria's review
5.0
When most people think of James Baldwin they tend to think of the earlier work, written during the Civil Rights era. They tend to forget that Baldwin was alive and working during the Eighties. 'James Baldwin in the 80's', by Joseph Vogel, seeks to rectify this omission. This work looks at: the films which Baldwin wrote at this time; the books that make up his later oeuvre; and his attitudes towards the issues of the day, such as; AIDS, gay rights and race relations. It argues that Baldwin disregarded the dominant dichotomy between high and low culture, exploring the films which Baldwin made during the early Eighties. In addition, Vogel explores Baldwin's individuality, emphasizing his dual identity, being both; African American and gay. The author argues that these aspects of Baldwin's life, and work, make him a perfect inspiration for our post post modern, intersectional, age.
lavinia_reads's review
4.0
If I had to use only one word to describe Joseph Vogel’s book, that word would be thought- provoking. James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era is a fascinating book that stimulates discussion and careful consideration.
In this book, Joseph Vogel delves into Baldwin’s final decade of work and demonstrates how profoundly creative and engaged he was with social issues ranging from the Reagan’s war over the culture, the defence of patriarchy by embracing what he termed “traditional family values”, to the deterioration of inner cities and the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop-culture and gender-bending to the evolving women’s and gay rights movements.
Vogel analyses four of Baldwin’s works written between 1979-1985. First, is Baldwin’s final novel Just Above My Head, a beautiful – breathtaking really – book with social-historical context, where he grapples with the meaning of celebrity, fame and wealth. Then there is James Baldwin’s unfinished play The Welcome Table where he explores the possibilities of love and intimacy amid the AIDS epidemic.
Baldwin offered his most compelling critique of American masculinity in his 1985 essay Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood where he questions the meaning of masculinity and gender. He explores the inner fears and deviances of the “freaks” and the role of androgyny in a “hard body” blockbuster era. He talks about Michael Jackson, an individual and a pop star who does not fit with the ideal of what a male – and more specific a African-American male – should be in the 1980s, an era that is characterized by the rise of televangelism, the Electric Church and the religious Right.
Finally, in his insightful 1985 essay, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, James Baldwin explores the Atlanta child murders that took place over a period of almost two years in 1979 and 1980. He scrutinizes the news media coverage, the exploitation of the tragedy and he notes the significance of Atlanta as the site of these brutal killings—a city that claimed to be “too busy to hate”.
The 1980s is an important time in the U.S. history. The Reagan administration has much to teach us about the state of play in the American society today. The deconstruction of that period can help us understand the U.S today, whether regarding race, gender, government, religion, capitalism, or the military.
“What is happening in this country? That’s the most important question”, asked James Baldwin in his 1963 astounding autobiographical account, The Fire Next Time. It is a question that it was relevant in the 1980s and it is still relevant today, and is as important a question to address as back in 1963.
In this book, Joseph Vogel delves into Baldwin’s final decade of work and demonstrates how profoundly creative and engaged he was with social issues ranging from the Reagan’s war over the culture, the defence of patriarchy by embracing what he termed “traditional family values”, to the deterioration of inner cities and the disproportionate incarceration of black youth, and from pop-culture and gender-bending to the evolving women’s and gay rights movements.
Vogel analyses four of Baldwin’s works written between 1979-1985. First, is Baldwin’s final novel Just Above My Head, a beautiful – breathtaking really – book with social-historical context, where he grapples with the meaning of celebrity, fame and wealth. Then there is James Baldwin’s unfinished play The Welcome Table where he explores the possibilities of love and intimacy amid the AIDS epidemic.
Baldwin offered his most compelling critique of American masculinity in his 1985 essay Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood where he questions the meaning of masculinity and gender. He explores the inner fears and deviances of the “freaks” and the role of androgyny in a “hard body” blockbuster era. He talks about Michael Jackson, an individual and a pop star who does not fit with the ideal of what a male – and more specific a African-American male – should be in the 1980s, an era that is characterized by the rise of televangelism, the Electric Church and the religious Right.
Finally, in his insightful 1985 essay, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, James Baldwin explores the Atlanta child murders that took place over a period of almost two years in 1979 and 1980. He scrutinizes the news media coverage, the exploitation of the tragedy and he notes the significance of Atlanta as the site of these brutal killings—a city that claimed to be “too busy to hate”.
The 1980s is an important time in the U.S. history. The Reagan administration has much to teach us about the state of play in the American society today. The deconstruction of that period can help us understand the U.S today, whether regarding race, gender, government, religion, capitalism, or the military.
“What is happening in this country? That’s the most important question”, asked James Baldwin in his 1963 astounding autobiographical account, The Fire Next Time. It is a question that it was relevant in the 1980s and it is still relevant today, and is as important a question to address as back in 1963.
More...