Baldwin: A Love Story

The life of James Baldwin (1924–1987) is told through four of his intimate relationships in the standout debut biography from independent scholar Boggs. The account begins with Beauford Delaney, a Harlem painter who in the 1940s taught the young writer “to see the beauty of the world around him, and to begin to see it within himself” and encouraged Baldwin’s 1948 move to Paris, where he met Lucien Happersberger, whom Baldwin called “the love of my life.” Happersberger inspired and facilitated Baldwin’s writing, particularly the novel Giovanni’s Room, giving Baldwin use of his family house in Switzerland to write. Baldwin met Turkish actor Engin Cezzar while working on a stage adaptation of Giovanni’s Room in the U.S. in the late 1950s. At the time, he was working on his novel Another Country, and beginning to play a larger role in the civil rights movement. The final relationship Boggs covers is Baldwin’s affair and collaboration with French painter Yoran Cazac. They partnered on the children’s book Little Man, Little Man, which Boggs explores in extensive detail. The author’s rigorous research, including interviews with Cazac, makes for an impressive portrait of Baldwin’s life and work. It’s a fascinating and original window into the private world of one of America’s greatest writers. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary. (Aug.)