Sources

Bigsby, C.W.E., Introduction to The Black American Writer, Vol. 1, Everett/Edwards, Inc., 1969.

Howe, Irving, "Black Boys and Native Sons," in Dissent, Autumn, 1963.

Macebuh, Stanley, James Baldwin: A Critical Study, Third Press, 1973.

Pratt, Louis H., Twayne's U.S. Authors Series: James Baldwin, G.K. Hall & Co., 1978.

Reilly, John M., '"Sonny's Blues': James Baldwin's Image of Black Community," in James Baldwin: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Keith Kinnamon, Prentice-Hall, 1974.

Further Reading

Albert, Richard N., "The Jazz-Blues Motif in Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues'," in College Literature, Spring, 1984, pp. 178-85.

This article examines Baldwin's use of music in "Sonny's Blues," detailing the significance of jazz and blues within the African-American tradition.

Bone, Robert A., The Negro Novel in America, Yale University Press, 1958.

A classic yet somewhat dated historical analysis of the novel's role in African-American literary tradition, and its place in American literary history. A "Postscript" specifically addresses James Baldwin's contributions.

Hakutani, Yoshinobu, and Robert Butler, The City in African-American Literature, Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1995.

This collection, which includes two essays on James Baldwin, explores the portrayal of the city in African-American literature from Frederick Douglass to the contemporary era. Fred L. Standley's essay argues that Baldwin saw the city as superior to the countryside and discusses Baldwin's journeys to the South.

O'Daniel, Therman B., editor, James Baldwin: A Critical Evaluation, Howard University Press, 1977.

O'Daniel compiles various evaluations of Baldwin as an essayist, playwright, and fiction writer, focusing extensively on his major works while giving less attention to his short stories.

Among the eight stories in Going to Meet the Man, "Sonny's Blues" gains more depth and coherence when considered alongside the others in the collection. The title story, in particular, provides a striking contrast. It recounts, through a series of flashbacks, the emotional turmoil of a sadistic white Southern sheriff who brutalizes his black prisoners during the Civil Rights movement. This narrative offers a compelling counterpoint to the frustrations and anger experienced by Sonny and his brother.

Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell it On the Mountain, was published just four years before "Sonny's Blues." This novel, which also incorporates many autobiographical elements from Baldwin's life, depicts a young man's initiation into adulthood marked by religious, racial, and familial strife. Another Country, written in the early sixties, features Rufus Scott, a disillusioned jazz drummer. His experiences with racial prejudice and feelings of alienation from family and society provide a productive comparison to the character of Sonny.

For a significant political and historical context on "Sonny's Blues," Baldwin's personal essays and cultural criticism offer valuable insights. In Notes of a Native Son, particularly the early essay "The Harlem Ghetto," Baldwin explores what it means to be a black man in mid-century America. The Fire Next Time, perhaps his most celebrated collection of essays, argues that identity based solely on skin color is ultimately destructive. His discussions on the nation's racial wounds are infused with profound humanism.