Daylight Come
Harry Belafonte and the World He Made
$75.63
- Hardcover
384 pages
- Release Date
8 September 2026
Summary
“Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times”
“Daylight Come takes us to places no biography in recent memory has … This book fills the heart and mind, and is essential reading for our times.” -Hilton Als
A vibrant, revealing portrait of the “King of Calypso,” whose extraordinary performing career and activism helped remake America through the civil rights era and beyond
Even three years after his death, Harry Belafonte is everywhere. You can’t go to a …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780593652701 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0593652703 |
| Author: | Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, Henry Louis Gates Jr. |
| Publisher: | Penguin Putnam Inc |
| Imprint: | The Penguin Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 384 |
| Release Date: | 8 September 2026 |
| Weight: | 474g |
| Dimensions: | 139mm x 209mm |
| Series: | Significations |
Critics Review
“Joshua Jelly-Schapiro’s Daylight Come takes us to places no biography in recent memory has. Through the discipline of research, and through love, Jelly-Schapiro’s far-reaching portrait of Harry Belafonte, one of the twentieth century’s greatest stars, is also the story of the bitter effects of colonialism and segregation, and the human desire and need to transcend both, the better to become a self. This book fills the heart and mind, and is essential reading for our times.” —Hilton Als
“Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is one of those rare writers who bridges worlds—between deep scholarship and gorgeous prose, between islands and mainlands, between big ideas and precise details, between history and possibility.” —Rebecca Solnit
“As graceful and arresting as its legendary subject, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro’s Daylight Come captures the sweep, majesty, barrier-breaking artistry and radical, grassroots dynamism of a pop culture icon who was also a Civil Rights change-maker and American visionary. Jelly-Schapiro’s deft ability to weave together large-scale history with an intimate and richly complex portrait of Harry Belafonte is a dazzling achievement. Reading Daylight Come is a reminder of just how singular and essential Belafonte was to both the making of our modern era and our ever-present dreams for a liberated Black world.” —Daphne A. Brooks
“A welcome biography of an artist and activist who left an enduring legacy.” —Kirkus
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer. His books include Names of New York: Discovering the City’s Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names; Island People: The Caribbean and the World; and, with Rebecca Solnit, Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. His work appears regularly in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The New York Review of Books.
Jelly-Schapiro teaches journalism at New York University and is director of publishing at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. There, he hosts the Author Talks series and is coeditor in chief of Pioneer Works Broadcast.
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