Going to Meet the Man

The world is much changed since 1965, when this collection first appeared, with its focus on marginalized people. Each story tells about someone black, gay, or female, who is sometimes dealing with an oppressive family but always looking for a way out of an untenable situation. Many of those situations don't occur in quite the same ways now, but narrator Dion Graham makes them timely and universally human. In Baldwin's masterpiece, the short story "Sonny's Blues," one can hear in the two brothers' voices the differences in their age, education, and experience as well as the similarities of family--a combination that helps to forge a heartbreaking performance. Most of the other stories show their age, but Graham's reading pulls the listener back to a time when they were fresh, raw wounds. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

May 2, 2011
As might be expected for this collection of short stories, Dion Graham's reading requires him to master an array of voices: hellfire-preaching ministers, deliciously profane Harlem locals, to kittenish women. Graham ranges from tremulous exertion to sudden flashes of rage, his reading flecked by an exhaustion that creeps in at the margins of Baldwin's prose. Baldwin's protagonists are weary of a world that allows them no respite from racism and hatred, and Graham echoes that weariness, his voice hushed and low, its register reflecting their struggle to survive.

Starred review from May 15, 2011

Available for the first time on audio, Baldwin's 1965 short story collection is timeless in its treatment of youthful innocence, prejudice, addiction, loneliness, fear, and human suffering. "Rockpile" and "The Outing" will seem familiar to those acquainted with his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain; the third story, "Man Child," features a very chilling ending that will catch them off guard. The four subsequent tales--"Previous Condition," "Sonny's Blues," "This Morning, This Evening, So Soon," and "Come Out the Wilderness"--return listeners to a more familiar world with elements of frustration, anger, loneliness, and the desire for love. But the most resonant story by far is the final, titular one, which contains graphic descriptions of a lynching and is a catalyst for strong emotions. Actor/Audie Award winner Dion Graham (see Behind the Mike, LJ 11/1/09) is masterly in his rending of the vast array of characters in these eight disparate tales. Highly recommended for all audiences.--Valerie Piechocki, Prince George's Cty. Memorial Lib., Largo, MD

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.