James Baldwin's eminence as a man of letters is now well established; indeed, his books, essays, and other pieces attest to the truth of Benjamin DeMott's statement that "this author retains a place in an extremely select group: that comprised of the few genuinely indispensable American writers." Within that context his reputation as a dramatist rests primarily upon two works: Blues for Mister Charlie (1964) and The Amen Corner (1968), each of which has been both praised and derided by its respective admirers and detractors. Significantly, however, Baldwin is one of the few black playwrights who has had more than one production on Broadway, and he was the recipient in 1964 of the Foreign Drama Critics Award.

From the time of his initial publication, a short story on the Spanish Revolution in a church newspaper at the age of twelve, Baldwin has consciously cultivated his vocation as a writer: "I consider...