In the October 23 2008 edition of the New York Review of Books, Colm Tóibín writes about James Baldwin and Barack Obama - and about race, rage, religion and, yes, beauty.excerpt:
Both men set about establishing their authority by exploring themselves and how they came to make it up as they went along, as much as by exploring the world around them. In Obama's own mixed background and complex heritage he saw America; out of his own success, he saw hope and a new set of values. Out of his own childhood Baldwin produced a number of enduring literary masterpieces and out of his efforts to make sense of his own complex, playful personality and his own unique place in history he produced some of the best essays written in the twentieth century. Reading these essays and Obama's speeches, especially the ones that are high on inspiration and short on policy, one is struck by the connection between them, two men remaking the world against all the odds in their own likeness, not afraid to ask, when faced with the future of America as represented by its children, using Baldwin's wonderful phrase, questions that are alien to most politicians: "What will happen to all that beauty?"
For the rest (I've given you the end), click here.
2 comments:
RG,
Are you teaching a literary class in the Spring (I would like to be in your class, if so)?
Jason, Reb usually teaches composition and creative writing, but not lit.
You might want to check out her creative writing class though and produce your own lit there - you're quite the writer with stories to tell.
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