A review by sssnoo
If Beale Street Could Talk, by James Baldwin

5.0

I wanted to read this book before I watched the movie. This one short book, written 45 years ago, could be a contemporaneous account of today’s criminal justice system. How has nothing changed in almost half a century? Baldwin could be speaking directly to us today. Other than the “dig its”, “you cats” and other 1970’s jargon everything is as recognizable and real today as then. The beauty of the book is the portrayal of family in all its complexity. The ugliness of the book is the perpetual violence and injustice that is the legacy this country has yet to resolve. This is as close to a perfect book as I have read.