Native Sons by James Baldwin & Sol Stein

This is a strange book in that it has James Baldwin’s name huuuuuuge on the cover but ultimately is mostly not written by him (though parts of it are), and the second half is collaborative work that he contributed to. The majority of the book, then, is by Sol Stein.

Honestly, I had no memory of having heard of Stein before this, though I must have read his name before, as I’ve read a couple of James Baldwin biographies and Stein would probably have been interviewed for those. Stein was a writer, editor and publisher in his own right, but in the narrative of Baldwin’s existence he seemed more a peripheral figure – an editor (yes) at some points, but mostly notable as an old schoolfriend… He therefore wasn’t as memorable (to me) as some of the luminaries who also existed in the sphere of Baldwin’s life…

–///–

Native Sons opens with about 40 pages of memoir by Stein, detailing his relationship with Baldwin, and the times and ways in which they worked together. During the first parts of Baldwin’s career, the overlaps were quite extensive, with Stein being the editor of Notes Of Native Son, and also offering some guidance and commentary around the in-progress manuscripts of Giovanni’s Room and other [slightly] later work…

The two of them also collaborated on (what is described here as “a story” but is ultimately an over-detailed pre-screenplay “treatment” (reminiscent of Malcolm Lowry’s Tender Is The Night)) a prose, fictionalised, version of ‘Equal in Paris‘ (one of the essays from Notes Of A Native Son), plus a version of a screenplay of that adapted story.

Stein & Baldwin wrote this screenplay with the hope of it being picked up for a TV movie in a one-hour drama slot, but it never got commissioned.

The initial feedback they received after submitting a draft caused them to abandon the project. It was: “Why don’t you make the main character white?” which would have essentially deflated a film called ‘Equal In Paris’, as the piece was directly and explicitly about the ways in which Black American ideas of racial equality in Europe in the 1950s were not necessarily in keeping with the realities of classism and racism and iniquity as it existed in other forms across the Atlantic. Legacies of slavery are not the only ways in which cruelty and inequality can be racistly baked into a society…

–///–

Sol Stein was the son of Jewish refugees (from Ukraine) and attended the same high school as James Baldwin.

They worked together on student magazines and newspapers and their friendship continued throughout Baldwin’s life. As Stein was someone who always lived locally to them, he also had a lasting relationship with Baldwin’s family, and writes here about comforting Baldwin’s mother at her son’s funeral, for example, but also helping his sister find a divorce lawyer decades earlier…

–///–

Native Sons contains – after the initial introduction – a long series of photostat reproductions of correspondence between Stein and Baldwin (and a couple of other people, seemingly just to bulk it out), with everything related to Baldwin’s work.

Some of these are notes on manuscripts, references to marketing or interviews, but also some discuss the wider social context that Notes Of Native Son was being published into. The letters do offer a genuinely interesting perspective on the production of a major literary text, as well as providing insight into the longer term creative friendship the two of them had.

What becomes a recurring feature as the letters go on (they’re organised chronologically) is Baldwin’s failure to hand work in on time, something he would continue throughout his career.

It very much, though, puts a strain on the friendship, as Stein was someone who had a pre-existing personal relationship with Baldwin before he began the business one he is writing on behalf of, here.

Later on, he has his own publishing house, but in most of these letters Stein is working for other people, so when Baldwin fails to submit texts before agreed deadline, he’s getting both of them in trouble, rather than just himself…

–///–

Also in the book is a series of black and white reproductions of photographs of the two friends, as well as photographs of Baldwin that belonged to Stein. These all have nice little annotations describing the context of when/where and how the images were taken.

After this, there’s the 50 page or so version of the treatment, then the 60-page or so screenplay.

And though this second half is, sadly, the lesser one, that doesn’t mean it’s without worth.

Buuuuuut the story as told in these two versions here just simply isn’t as engaging and exciting and interesting as the non-fictional version included in Notes Of A Native Son.

The collaborators have added in a romantic relationship and a few other details that, quite frankly, make the story feel less real. Although some of these are dropped between the treatment and the screenplay, the romantic relationship – which doesn’t feel remotely realistic – does remain…

Sol Stein admits in the introduction that the screenplay isn’t excellent and writes that he’s certain that – with a few more revisions – he and Baldwin could have got it to work, and though the version included here is enjoyable, it feels a long way from a final draft…

For me at least, though, that didn’t stop Native Sons from being a super engaging book. It’s fun and interesting and – perhaps the real thing that allows Sol Stein to get away with this – a super quick read.

Yes, there’s nothing in here that would be fresh to a prior reader of James Baldwin’s work, as the two pieces that he co-wrote here are riffs on work of his that is better done elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still Baldwin…

It’s nice to see Baldwin’s handwriting!

It’s nice to see these photostats of letters that he typed himself…

It’s nice to see Baldwin being cheeky in personal communication with a friend…

Stein’s writing and Stein’s letters seek to explain and clarify the conversations and the statements being made in Baldwin’s work, and so even though Native Sons does feel more like a Stein book than a Baldwin book, I certainly didn’t leave it feeling dissatisfied or like I had a bad time.

Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend this as a starting point to anyone who hasn’t read any other James Baldwin, but for someone like me who has read most of the guy’s work and is nearing the end of this great writer and thinker’s oeuvre, it’s certainly not an unpleasant way to spend the couple of hours it takes to read.

Native Sons is a fun and engaging book, and though it might not be something you need to be a big Baldwin fan to enjoy, it’s probably not really worth picking up unless you are…

For the Baldwin completist, absolutely no regrets will be had after reading Native Sons.

Though it is a minor book, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad one!