The Devil Finds Work

The Devil Finds Work is a book length essay by writer James Baldwin. Published in 1976, it is both a memoir of his experiences watching movies and a critique of the racial politics of American cinema. It opens with a discussion of a Joan Crawford film, which is the first movie Baldwin can remember seeing, and ends with a discussion of The Exorcist, which came out in 1973. Among the other movies discussed are Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and The Defiant Ones.

Works by James Baldwin
Novels
  • Go Tell It on the Mountain
  • Giovanni's Room
  • Another Country
  • Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
  • If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Just Above My Head
Plays
  • The Amen Corner
  • Blues for Mister Charlie
Short story collections
  • Going to Meet the Man
    • "The Rockpile"
    • "The Outing"
    • "The Man Child"
    • "Previous Condition"
    • "Sonny's Blues"
    • "This Morning, This Evening, So Soon"
    • "Come Out the Wilderness"
    • "Going to Meet the Man"
Poetry collection
  • Jimmy's Blues
Essay collections
  • Notes of a Native Son
  • The Fire Next Time
  • No Name in the Street
  • The Devil Finds Work
  • The Evidence of Things Not Seen
  • The Price of the Ticket
Collaborations
  • Nothing personal
  • A Rap on Race
  • One day when I was lost
  • A Dialogue
  • Little Man Little Man: A Story of Childhood


Famous quotes containing the words devil, finds and/or work:

    “He must needs go that the devil drives.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “Any man which an idea, however subtle and unexpected it may be, finds lacking, is not a writer. The inexpressible does not exist.”
    —Théophile Gautier (1811–1872)

    “Having an identity at work separate from an identity at home means that the work role can help absorb some of the emotional shock of domestic distress. Even a mediocre performance at the office can help a person repair self-esteem damaged in domestic battles.”
    —Faye J. Crosby (20th century)