When
Baldwin’s friend told him to write
Notes of a Native Son, he objected that he was “too young to publish my memoirs.” Baldwin had returned to the United States from
Paris in 1954, for reasons that remain unclear to him. He recalls that 1954-55 was overall a great year; he lived at a writers’ colony, watched his friend Marlon Brando win an Oscar, and had his play put on at Howard University, where it was popular despite objections from the faculty and negative reviews in the press. Baldwin also fell in love, although he adds that he didn’t have any money. He finished the short novel
Giovanni’s Room, and agreed to publish
Notes of a Native Son even though he did not consider himself an essayist. At the same time Baldwin felt that he wanted to discover himself through the project and to access his “inheritance” and his “birthright.”