James Campbell was born in Glasgow in 1951. Between 1978 and 1982 he was editor of The New Edinburgh Review. He is the author of Invisible Country: A Journey Through Scotland and Gate Fever: Voices from a Prison. He lives in London and works for the Times Literary Supplement. His memoir, Just Go Down to the Road: A Memoir of Trouble and Travel, will be published by Polygon in July 2021.
'Campbell has blended both scholarship and personal recollection' * New York Times * 'First-rate ... the best biography so far' * Chicago Tribune * 'A lively book that is immensely readable' * Boston Globe * 'Frank and affectionate' * Times Literary Supplement * 'Frank and affectionate . . . Campbell brings a mixture of intellectual integrity and something like truculence to the biographer's task . . . He plays along effectively with Baldwin's great zest for life, his love of the comic, his self-deprecating, balancing knowledge of himself as both poseur and prophet' -- Arnold Rampersad, author of Ralph Ellison: A Biography 'Scrupulously researched and uncovers new material about Baldwin's life. Campbell knew Baldwin well, but his affection for the man has not dulled his critical pen' -- Caryl Phillips 'Campbell doesn't let friendship get in the way of solid criticism...this is a vivid, candid portrait of a fascinating man' * Herald * 'A new edition fit for our socially unstable times' * Dundee Courier *