84 pages 2 hours read

James Baldwin

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953

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Introduction

Go Tell It on the Mountain

  • Genre: Fiction; literary
  • Originally Published: 1953
  • Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
  • Structure/Length: 3 parts, 3 chapters; approx. 272 pages; approx. 8 hours, 45 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: Fourteen-year-old John Grimes discovers his identity as the stepson of a Pentecostal minister in 1930s Harlem. Everyone believes he will follow in his father’s footsteps and become a preacher, but John has conflicting feelings about God and his sexuality.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Systemic racism; violence; sexual assault; sexual content             

James Baldwin, Author

  • Bio: August 2, 1924-December 1, 1987; noted Black essayist, novelist, playwright, and poet; writing explores masculinity, sexuality, race, and class that intersect with the civil rights movement and gay liberation movement; never knew his biological father; had a difficult relationship with his stepfather; became a preacher at Fireside Pentecostal Assembly after discovering he was attracted to men; spent years in menial jobs trying to support his family; moved to Paris in 1948 to escape American prejudice against Black communities and individuals; wrote and published his first novel in Paris; returned to New York in 1957 to participate in the civil rights movement; lived in France for most of his later life; died from stomach cancer in 1987
  • Other Works: Giovanni’s Room (1956); Another Country (1962); Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone (1968); If Beale Street Could Talk (1974); Just Above My Head (1979)