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Cover of Blues For Mister Charlie

How long does it take to read Blues For Mister Charlie?

A Play

James Baldwin

Blues For Mister Charlie by James Baldwin takes about 2 hours 46 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 2 hours 46 minutes

An evening's read

First published 1964. 151 pages, about 41,525 words.

6 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 4 hours 37 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 2 hours 46 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 1 hour 44 minutes

The page count is the median across 34 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

In a small Southern town, a white man murders a black man, then throws his body in the weeds. With this act of violence--which is loosely based on the notorious 1955 killing of Emmett Till--James Baldwin launches an unsparing and at times agonizing probe of the wounds of race. For where once a white storekeeper could have shot a "boy" like Richard Henry with impunity, times have changed. And centuries of brutality and fear, patronage and contempt, are about to erupt in a moment of truth as devastating as a shotgun blast. In his award-winning play, Baldwin turns a murder and its aftermath into an inquest in which even the most well-intentioned whites are implicated--and in which even a killer receives his share of compassion.

Subjects: American drama, Drama, African Americans, Racism, Fiction, Theater programs

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