"The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin: This is not a work of fiction. Sadly, the issues of racism confronted here by Mr. Baldwin are as real today as when this book first saw print in 1963.

The first section, entitled "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation," runs about seven pages, with the author attempting to save his nephew from a miserable life of anger. Mr. Baldwin had seen his brother consumed with hatred for the white man and is doing what he can to make sure his brother's son doesn't follow the same unfortunate path. Considering the world around them, and the racial injustice facing them each and every day of their lives, it's not easy to make an argument for peace and understanding.

An essay called "Down at the Cross: Letters from a Region in My Mind" spans the final 100 or so pages of the book, as Mr. Baldwin discusses his early upbringing, the importance of religion in the black community, and the rise of the Nation of Islam. The author chronicles his meeting with Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad and considers the prospect of separate White and Black Americas. There's also a brief passage in which Mr. Baldwin contemplates death that elevates the entire text in the eyes of this humble reviewer.

I'm a great admirer of Mr. Baldwin's style. While I don't always enjoy what he writes, I never fail to marvel at how he writes it. Sure, sometimes his characters and plots are a bit thin, but there's simply no denying his natural talent for prose. Everything he does seems so effortless. And "Go Tell It on the Mountain" is a truly powerful experience. But I was hoping to one day see his skill applied to more philosophical means, so reading his reflections on death and existence was a real treat.

The title of the book comes from an old slave song. "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, The fire next time." Mr. Baldwin uses it as a warning against what might happen if white America doesn't change its ways. Forty years later, it's easy to delude ourselves into thinking that racism isn't the terrible scourge it was in the turbulent 60s, but the shiny, gleaming surface of acceptance only serves to mask the insidious nature of the problem. It hasn't gone anywhere. It still exists. It's very real. Please, do your part to end it.

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