Going to Meet the Man

"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women of eight short stories grasp the aforesaid truth on an elemental level, and their tales, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their heads above water. With characters ranging from a jazz pianist and his heroin addiction, to a redneck deputy scarred by his childhood vision of a lynch mob in action, Baldwin's stories are haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying, vivifying Baldwin's uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators.