James Baldwin: A Biography. - book reviews

David Leeming. James Baldwin: A Biography. New York: Knopf. 1994. 457 pp. $15.95.

Terry Eagleton recently observed that "the structure of biography is biology: even the most wayward of geniuses have to get themselves born and educated, fight with their parents, fall in love and die." Undoubtedly, David Leeming's James Baldwin embodies this principle, for it opens with the circumstance of the subject's illegitimate birth on August 2, 1924, and closes with an account of his funeral on December 8, 1987. Within these perimeters the roster of Baldwin's interactions and connections reads like a veritable International Who's Whet. Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amiri Baraka, Mary McCarthy, Harry Belafonte, Robert Kennedy, Lorraine Hansberry, Sidney Poitier, Toni Morrison, Stephen Spender, Malcolm X, Marion Brando, Richard Wright, Margaret Mead, Langston Hughes, William Styron, Chinua Achebe, Norman Mailer, Wole Soyinka, and many others.

Another primary principle underlying the biographical endeavor is that enunciated by Philip Ziegler: "Biographers must aim to embrace the totality of the subjects' life" and "never lose their hunger for the minutiae of the subjects' everyday existence." In this respect Leeming's volume is teeming with details--fascinating stories, incidents, and episodes--drawn from Baldwin's life, some of which have not previously been dealt with by other chroniclers of his personal story. One such episode involves Henry Louis Gates, Jr., serving as catalyst for the author's last work, The Welcome Table, by setting up a dinner party that included Josephine Baker and Baldwin and resulted in their respective reminiscing, especially with regard to being expatriates. An equally compelling story concerns Baldwin's elaborate and ambitious attempt to write, direct, and narrate "The Hallelujah Chorus--The Life and Times of Ray Charles," intended to feature the singer and Cicely Tyson. Perhaps, however, it is also inevitable that this basic axiom of "totality" in biography can never be fully attained even when assiduously pursued. For instance, two real-life incidents of some magnitude involving Baldwin were not picked up by Leeming. The first concerns a lecture trip in several northern European countries on behalf of P.E.N. undertaken by Baldwin, accompanied by his sister, and Richard Wilbur. A second pertains to the public declaration by Baldwin in a New York church performance one Sunday afternoon to the effect that "he who would enter the twenty-first century, must come by way of me," a claim either motivated by the recognition of his own genius in analyzing the post-colonial world or born of an arrogant audacity and merely waiting for public dissemination.

While not designated as the "official" biography in the traditional sense of that term, David Leeming enjoyed, nevertheless, the dual privileges of having the imprimatur of some of Baldwin's family as well as the active cooperation of some relatives. Furthermore, Leeming's personal friendship and his roles as sometimes "companion-translator-secretary" to Baldwin afforded him the occasion for receiving an "authorization letter" from the writer which would later grant him access to personal papers. He also was aided by numerous contacts with friends, acquaintances, and associates of Baldwin.

Prior biographical treatments--Fern Eckman's The Furious Passage of James Baldwin, W. J. Weatherby's James Baldwin: Artist on Fire, and James Campbell's Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin--are evident in the preparation of this volume, as Leeming publicly acknowledges. In this respect, a decided merit of the methodology employed is the documentation contained at times both within the text itself as well as in the "Notes" for each of the thirty-four chapters. This notwithstanding, there are far too many situations in the text where substantial quotations are set forth, yet the reader is left to infer the source; typical is the discussion of If Beale Street Could Talk, where Leeming quotes Baldwin about the book but provides no clue to the origin of the comment. Similarly, on page 89 he quotes Baldwin concerning the autobiographical quest inherent to Go Tell It on the Mountain but offers no information as to the source having been a letter, personal comment, interview, or whatever. Again, it is somewhat frustrating to read such numerous quotations from letters obviously written by Baldwin but which are unaccounted for as to date or recipient or location.

The "Chronological Bibliography of Printed Works by James Baldwin" compiled by Leeming and Lisa Getelman is a valuable contribution to Baldwin studies, as it contains items which have not been readily available in other listings--e.g., Gypsies and. Other Poems (Leeds, MA: Gehenna P/Eremite P, 1989). Additionally, other entries are presented under their original titles as well as in the changed titles used in reprinting--e.g., "Life Straight in De Eye," which first appeared in Commentary in 1955 and later was reprinted as "Carmen Jones: The Dark Is Light Enough" in Notes of a Native Son and The Price of the Ticket. Nevertheless, some profoundly significant pieces are omitted e.g., "The Creative Dilemma: `The War of an Artist with His Society is a Lover's War' "in Saturday Review 8 Feb. 1964: 14+.