{"product_id":"native-sons-9780345469366","title":"Native Sons","description":"James Baldwin was beginning to be recognized as the most brilliant black writer of his generation when his first book of essays, \u003ci\u003eNotes of a Native Son\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eestablished his reputation in 1955. No one was more pleased by the book's reception than Baldwin's high school friend Sol Stein. A rising New York editor, novelist, and playwright, Stein had suggested that Baldwin do the book and coaxed his old friend through the long and sometimes agonizing process of putting the volume together and seeing it into print. Now, in this fascinating new book, Sol Stein documents the story of his intense creative partnership with Baldwin through newly uncovered letters, photos, inscriptions, and an illuminating memoir of the friendship that resulted in one of the classics of American literature. Included in this book are the two works they created together-the story \"Dark Runner\" and the play \u003ci\u003eEqual in Paris\u003c\/i\u003e, both published here for the first time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough a world of difference separated them-Baldwin was black and gay, living in self-imposed exile in Europe; Stein was Jewish and married, with a growing family to support-the two men shared the same fundamental passion. Nothing mattered more to either of them than telling and writing the truth, which was not always welcome. As Stein wrote Baldwin in a long, heartfelt letter, \"You are the only friend with whom I feel comfortable about all three: heart, head, and writing.\" In this extraordinary book, Stein unfolds how that shared passion played out in the months surrounding the creation and publication of Baldwin's \u003ci\u003eNotes of a Native Son\u003c\/i\u003e, in which Baldwin's main themes are illuminated. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA literary event published to honor the eightieth anniversary of James Baldwin's birth, \u003ci\u003eNative Sons\u003c\/i\u003e is a celebration of one of the most fruitful and influential friendships in American letters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor over three decades, \u003cb\u003eSol Stein\u003c\/b\u003e edited and published some of the leading writers of the Twentieth century, including James Baldwin, Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, and Lionel Trilling. A prize-winning playwright and the author of nine novels, as well as nonfiction books, screenplays, and TV dramas, Stein lives in New York. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in 1924, \u003cb\u003eJames Baldwin\u003c\/b\u003e made a name for himself with his first novel, \u003ci\u003eGo Tell It on the Mountain \u003c\/i\u003ein 1953. His legendary \u003ci\u003eNotes of a Native Son\u003c\/i\u003e appeared two years later, and he went on to publish fiction, poetry, plays, and essays that profoundly influenced the literature of Twentieth-century America. Baldwin died in France in 1987.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50911225479442,"sku":"9780345469366","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ba3ffc07-bcb2-44cd-9367-aed6b2de792f.jpg?v=1738734251","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/native-sons-9780345469366","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}