Wie lange, sag mir, ist der Zug schon fort

Everyone longs to be loved, yet few can truly endure it. At the height of his fame, Leo Proudhammer is struck down by a heart attack. Brought to reflection by the proximity of death, the Black theater star revisits the pain and triumph of his life: from the misery of the streets of Harlem to the struggling artist years in the Village, culminating in his breakthrough on stage. His only anchor: his older brother Caleb, who is wrongfully imprisoned – and the ever-complex love for the white actress Barbara, tender yet complicated, or for the young Black man Christopher, who rebels against the circumstances. With force and tenderness, Baldwin explores in his fourth novel what it means to fight for a place in an irreconcilably torn world. "The story of Black people is the story of America," Baldwin has said. The way he tells it is irresistible. The work of American writer James Baldwin is marked by great power and beauty. On the occasion of James Baldwin's 100th birthday – the great stylist and icon of equality. New edition with accompanying words by Ijoma Mangold and Elmar Kraushaar.