Just Above My Head (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: James Baldwin
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Plot: Ethnic realism
- Time of Work: The 1940’s to the 1970’s
- Setting: New York City; Birmingham, Alabama; Paris; and London
- Principal Characters: Hall Montana, Arthur Montana, Julia Miller, Jimmy Miller, Joel Miller, Crunch, Guy Lazar
- Genres: Long fiction, Realism, Social realism
- Subjects: African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Gay men, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Twentieth century, New York City, Paris, Brothers, Singing or singers, London, Gospel music, Preaching
- Locales: Birmingham, AL, New York, NY, Paris, France, London, England
The Novel
Just Above My Head is divided into five books. The first opens when Hall Montana receives word that his younger brother, thirty-nine-year-old Arthur Montana, a renowned gospel singer, has died, presumably of a heart attack, in the basement men’s room in a restaurant in London. Hall, who is forty-six when Arthur dies, has great difficulty reconciling himself to the death of his brother, an active homosexual. It is he, through reflective and extended flashbacks, who relates the story of his brother’s life. In doing so, Hall also reveals how his younger...
[The entire page is 2437 words long]
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