Book · 1952 · African americans, fiction
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Why people recommend it
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin is a powerful debut novel that portrays a young boy coming of age within a strict religious family in Harlem. On The Book Review, MJ Franklin recommended the novel as an incredible portrait of Black American life and coming-of-age experiences. During another episode of The Book Review, Nicholas Boggs discussed the biographical context surrounding the author, noting that James Baldwin was only able to successfully finish writing his first novel after moving to France with Lucien Happersberger. Furthermore, Amor Towles mentioned on How I Write that he read James Baldwin's debut alongside works by other American writers to fully immerse himself in the cultural and artistic sensibilities of 1954 while preparing to write his own novel, The Lincoln Highway.
Who recommended it
- Nicholas Boggs Discussed
- MJ Franklin Recommended
- Amor Towles Discussed
Nicholas Boggs — 1 mention
“he was not able to finish his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain until he moved to France and Lucien Happersberger”
MJ Franklin — 1 mention
“and one of his first books Go Tell It on the mountain is an incredible portrait of a young boy coming of age in a religious family in Harlem”
Amor Towles — 1 mention
“planning o Connor's uh first collection of short stories uh A Good Man is Hard to Find I I read um James Baldwin's first novel uh Go Tell It on the Mountain I read the man with a gray flannel suit and I read uh Raymond Chandler's uh long goodbye”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- A Confederacy of Dunces
- A Stranger in the Village
- A good man is hard to find
- American Pastoral
- Anne of Green Gables
- Another Country
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“so Baldwin had published his first novel In 1953 and he he' published by then three novels go tell on the mountain giovan's room in another country”