One Day When I Was Lost by James Baldwin

One Day When I Was Lost

A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's the Autobiography of Malcolm X

James Baldwin

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · August 14, 2007

A rare, lucidly composed screenplay from one of America’s greatest writers, based on the bestselling classic The Autobiography of Malcolm X. • "Sharp....

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Who it’s for
Baldwin brings spare, forceful dialogue and precise camera directions to Malcolm X’s changing life.
Themes
Personal transformation, Changing the country
Genres
Screenplays, Black & African American Lives, Activist Lives

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For younger readers: The Awakening of Malcolm X, Malcolm Lives!, Monster

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About this book

A rare, lucidly composed screenplay from one of America’s greatest writers, based on the bestselling classic The Autobiography of Malcolm X. • "Sharp.... Precise....

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There is no questioning the depth and sincerity of Baldwin's admiration for Malcolm X." —The Times Literary Supplement Son of a Baptist minister; New York City hustler; honor student; convicted criminal; powerful minister in the Nation of Islam; father and husband: Malcolm X transformed himself, time and again, in order to become one of the most feared, loved, and undeniably charismatic leaders of twentieth-century America. No one better represents the tumultuous times of his generation, and there is no one better to capture him and his milieu than James Baldwin. With spare, elegant, yet forceful dialogue and fresh, precise camera directions, Baldwin breathes cinematic life into this controversial and important figure, offering a new look at a man who changed himself in order to change the country.

Words for the Camera

Baldwin brings spare, forceful dialogue and precise camera directions to Malcolm X’s changing life.

Come here for

  • A cinematic take on a life of reinvention
  • Baldwin’s lucid, unsentimental command of dialogue

Expect

  • A scenario grounded in Malcolm X’s autobiography
  • A serious, layered encounter with a controversial public figure

Where it sits

Black & African American Lives60%
Screenplays59%
Activist Lives34%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Cultural Heritage Lives
  • African American Plays
  • Screenplays
Authors
James Baldwin
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published
August 14, 2007
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Personal transformation · Changing the country
Reading lane
Cultural Heritage Lives