Quotes from book
Sonny's Blues

Name: Sonny's Blues
Author: James Baldwin

"Sonny's Blues" is a story written by James Baldwin, originally published in Partisan Review. The story is about a black man, Sonny, from Harlem who in the 1950s is arrested for drugs. The story is presented from the perspective of Sonny's brother and his musings about his and Sonny's past. We see Sonny's progression, as he tries to escape reality through music while he struggles with addiction. Baldwin republished the work in the 1965 short story collection Going to Meet the Man.

“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.”

James Baldwin book Sonny's Blues

Source: Sonny's Blues

“Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.”

James Baldwin book Sonny's Blues

Source: Sonny's Blues