The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 [Hardcover]

James Baldwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1985

The works of James Baldwin constitute one of the major contributions to American literature in the twentieth century, and nowhere is this more evident than in The Price of the Ticket, a compendium of nearly fifty years of Baldwin's powerful nonfiction writing. With truth and insight, these personal, prophetic works speak to the heart of the experience of race and identity in the United States. Here are the full texts of Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, and The Devil Finds Work, along with dozens of other pieces, ranging from a 1948 review of Raintree Country to a magnificent introduction to this book that, as so many of Mr. Baldwin's works do, combines his intensely private experience with the deepest examination of social interaction between the races. In a way, The Price of the Ticket is an intellectual history of the twentieth-century American experience; in another, it is autobiography of the highest order.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA Compiled into one volume are James Baldwin's essays from the past three decades. Except for the lead article, "The Price of the Ticket," all have been published before. The selections are arranged in chronological order and include his three book-length essays, "The Fire Next Time," "No Name in the Street" and "The Devil Finds Work." Baldwin's writings on the civil rights movement, his analysis of Richard Wright's Native Son (Harper, 1940) and his thoughts on his childhood experiences are a few of the topics in this volume. Baldwin details his hopes, his joys, his bitterness and his feelings about himself, other blacks and especially white America. The earlier works seem somewhat theatrical and histrionic, his later ones toned down to a more pure and clear style. All of them are brilliant, intense and passionate. For those collections that do not have copies of these previously published works. Pat Royal, Prince George's County Public School System, Md.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Together, these essays document the changes and development of intellectual styles and values between the period when they were written for such magazines as New Leader and Partisan Review and the present . . . The Price of the Ticket collects much of the best work of one of our finest living writers."—Sam Cornish, The Christian Science Monitor

"James Baldwin's essays on race in America are enlightening, entertaining and, because of his remarkable prescience, a bit eerie . . . In these 51 pieces all of which appeared in magazines or previous collections, Mr. Baldwin covers a diverse range of subjects. But a theme runs through them all—many of our national ills stem from a retreat from self-knowledge. This country's mistreatment of blacks is the best symbol of the discordance between the American myth and reality, Mr. Baldwin contends."—Salim Muwakkil, The New York Times Book Review

"James Baldwin became a national figure and remained one until his death, two years before which his collected nonfiction, The Price of the Ticket, came out. Anyone wishing to take Baldwin's measure as a man and writer while, incidentally, getting a vivid picture of Harlem during World War II, must begin with this book."—William Corbett, author of New York Literary Lights

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (September 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312643063
• ISBN-13: 978-0312643065
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly heartfelt essays, April 3, 2002

By 

Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 (Hardcover)

Baldwin was a great writer, not only because he told a compelling story, but because he wanted his work to change the world he lived in and, on some levels, it did. No other example of this intention is more apprant than Baldwin's non-fiction work. His essays are timely (even now), filled with biting intelect, and brimming with his trademark ability to wind around an issue.

This book is all the more relevant because it saves you time: it collects his 3 book-length essays ("Fire Next Time", "No name In The Street" and "The Devil Finds Work"), as well as a ton of other pieces. It's almost totally comprehensive in this respect. Revealing and a more than trustworthy look at the man from his own mouth, and over the years.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best American essayist, December 17, 2000

By 

Gary Britson (Des Moines, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 (Hardcover)

With the possible exception of Tom Paine and Gore Vidal, Baldwin is the finest essayist. Most of his non-fiction is here, including his groundbreaking essay "Fifth Avenue, Uptown," the best single essay I have ever read. Of special interest, as one who enjoys movie criticism, is the entire book "The Devil Finds Work," in which Baldwin happily takes apart a number of American classic films. I was never wild about Baldwin's fiction, but no one could top him as an essayist. If you are buying one American non-fiction book, this should be the one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Writer Few Seem to Know, August 3, 2009

By 

William Alexander "Alexander, Shaun" (Spartanburg, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 (Hardcover)

James Baldwin is one of the most straightforward but complex American writers I have ever encountered. Best known for his groundbreaking works like "Giovanni's Room" and "I Don't Know How Long the Train's Been Gone," these essays - fascinating ruminations on race, gender, sexuality, cinema, and sometimes just the nature of fame itself - are artfully assembled. In this book, cover to cover, you see the work of a true intellectual - someone who evolves in his thinking as the years go by, someone whose even most casual observation is fraught with meaning because of an almost tragic refusal to "see" things for what anything other than what they are. Baldwin himself was a controversial figure - African American man of letters, gay, steeped in the culture of both the Haarlem Renaissance, the ecstatic church, and post-war Paris, a civil rights lion who was still unafraid to discuss the contradictions of a movement he feared would tear itself apart. But his writing is almost like reading the work of a magician, remarkable in its "passionate dispassion" and unflinching willingness to deal with subjects from his own unique point(s) of view, subjects others would eschew or refuse to touch. He is not a "comfortable" writer. His was an intellect and achievement that does the near impossible - deals with themes most "human" and yet seemingly transcends those very limitations, limitations that would have felled a lesser artist. At his best, he even achieves an eerie prescience, and not in some generalized fashion. His prose is not compromising.

I also note that some of Mr. Baldwin's lectures and interviews are now on YouTube. And those make great companions to any reading of his works.

I recommend this book without reservation. The work of a unique American "master" performing at his absolute best.