Though Baldwin, who would have turned 100 on August 2nd, wrote elegantly direct sentences, his prose was subtle and often baroque—unlike the sort found on X. Venerating Baldwin for his activism risks overlooking what made him unique as a novelist and essayist. His fiction depicted African-American life with more honesty and complexity than any writer who preceded him. He influenced legions of writers, including Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Ta-Nehisi Coates.