Nicholas Boggs’s monumental biography considers James Baldwin through the prism of love, placing four beloved men at the center of his writing, his activism, his political consciousness, his philosophy, and his life. We have been presented with many partial Baldwins over the years, but here is the whole loveable man: the radical and the celebrity, the civil rights hero and the downtown playwright, the cosmopolitan jet-setter and the son of East Harlem. Compulsively interesting and beautifully written—there is something to treasure on every page. I absolutely loved it.” —Zadie Smith
“Gorgeous. Nicholas Boggs’s storytelling, so tenderly rendered, brings us the beautiful yet tattered heart of not only Baldwin the intellectual and artist, but Baldwin the vulnerable, yearning, flesh-and-blood person. This book is so important and timely.” —Imani Perry, National Book Award winner for South to America
“Nicholas Boggs’s meticulously researched and passionately written Baldwin is the crown jewel of the ongoing James Baldwin revival. Boggs, in seamless fashion, vividly recounts the personal life of America’s brave Black novelist, essayist, gay liberation oracle, and civil rights activist. Replete with freshly unearthed revelations about Baldwin’s intimate relationships, this epic biography captures Baldwin in full. Highly recommended!” —Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history at Rice University, and author of Rosa Parks: A Life
“James Baldwin spent his life being a witness to the world, and for the first time, in Baldwin: A Love Story, we are a witness to him. Nicholas Boggs shows us Baldwin’s brilliance, his desire to change the world, as well as his loneliness, his desire for domesticity, and his determination to leave something behind that would ultimately become our inheritance. So grateful for this stunning work.” —Lena Waithe, Emmy Award–winning writer, producer, and actor
“Through this gloriously written and exhaustively researched page-turner of a biography, I’ve just spent the past few weeks moving through the twentieth century with one of the world’s most brilliant writers. I’m better for it.” —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow
“Magnificent. Nicholas Boggs’s Baldwin is a formidable achievement, beautifully written, engrossing, and extremely intimate. Boggs’s long journey as the biographer becomes a wild and most improbable treasure hunt where he unearths more than one poignant love story. James Baldwin’s life is revealed in all its triumphs and agonies.” —Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer of J. Robert Oppenheimer
“A virtuosic feat of literary imagination, rhapsodic and transportive. Stunningly, it answers not only the question of who James Baldwin was but how he made and remade his art and his world. Fast paced and, at times, movingly tender, with love palpable throughout, the total effect is symphonic. This book deserves a standing ovation.” —Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife
“In this comprehensive, emotional biography, Boggs positions Baldwin’s romantic history squarely at the center of his literary and political work, chronicling the parallel developments in Baldwin’s art and in his relationships . . . [A] rich and complex look at a writer who exemplifies the impossibility of separating the personal from the political.” —Lesley Williams, Booklist (starred review)
“This vibrant new biography…establishes Baldwin as a restless writer who publicly “forced readers to confront the connections between white supremacy, masculinity, and sexuality” while privately seeking the “redemptive power of love” with other men, gay, straight, and bisexual. A dynamic portrait that deepens our understanding of a complex artist. –Kirkus Reviews (starred review)