A collection of approaches to the work of an essential black American author who is just as relevant now as he was during his turbulent heyday.

Part I. Life and Afterlife: 1. Harlem during and after the Renaissance Herb Boyd; 2. American writers in Paris D. Quentin Miller; 3. Greenwich village and emerging bohemianism Douglas Field; 4. 1963: Baldwin's annus mirabilis Kevin Schultz; 5. East meets West: Baldwin in Istanbul in the 1960s Magdalena Zaborowska; 6. Baldwin as teacher David Leeming; 7. A long way from home: Baldwin in Provence Jenny James; 8. Decline of reputation in the 1980s Joseph Vogel; 9. The critical Renaissance: 1999-present Leah Mirakhor; 10. Biographies D. Quentin Miller; 11. The matter of black lives: Baldwin today Justin Joyce; Part II. Social and Cultural Contexts: 12. Intersectionality Mark Reid; 13. Baldwin and the early civil rights movement Lynn Orilla Scott; 14. Segregation and the South Keith Mitchell; 15. The assassinations: Medgar, Malcolm, Martin Zachary Manditch-Prottas; 16. Gospel Leslie Wingard; 17. 'The Whole Body of the Sound': the black musical basis of Baldwin's literary craft and social vision Ed Pavli¿; 18. Baldwin and psychoanalysis Mikko Tuhkanen; Part III. Literary Contexts: 19. The protest essay tradition Brian Norman; 20. Baldwin and the black arts movement Melba Joyce Boyd; 21. Baldwin and the rhetoric of confession D. Quentin Miller; 22. The poetics of beautiful blackness: on Baldwin and négritude John Drabinski; 23. Mid-century theatre Frank Leon Roberts; 24. Sex and the twentieth century novel Pekka Kilpeläinen; 25. Responding to Richard Wright Alice Mikal Craven; 26. Baldwin's literary friendships Jenny James; 27. Reviewers, critics, and cranks William Dow; 28. Baldwin's collaborative dance Rashida Braggs; 29. Baldwin's literary progeny Justin Joyce.