Published in 1962, this is an emotionally intense novel of love, hatred, race and liberal America in the 1960s. Set in Greenwhich Village, Harlem and France, ANOTHER COUNTRY tells the story of the suicide of jazz-musician Rufus Scott and the friends who search for an understanding of his life and death, discovering uncomfortable truths about themselves along the way.
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About the Author
Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin had an early career as a teenage preacher. He lived in Paris from 1948-1956 and his first novels, the autobiographical GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and GIOVANNI'S ROOM established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes of his later works, such as racism and sexuality. He became a prominent spokesperson for racial equality, especially during the civil rights movement. He lived in France during his last years. Baldwin died in 1987.
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First Sentence
He was facing Seventh Avenue, at Times Square. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
He was facing Seventh Avenue, at Times Square. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
An epic of a novel, Another Country really is two novels in one: the first is the story of Rufus Scott, a black man living in the segregated world of NYC in the 50's, struggling to find a way out of the mire of alienation and self-hatred, while the second is a portrait of the people who are left behind after Rufus exits the stage. The first part is gripping and beautifully realized, while the second is a much more pedestrian look at a collection of confused, tormented folks scanning the streets of Manhattan as well as each other's beds in search of meaning. Baldwin is an amazingly original and insightful writer, yet the novel feels anticlimactic after the first section narrated by Rufus, and the conclusion seems too pat. Still, for its discussion of issues of race, class, homosexuality, adultery, and the struggle for self-knowledge, Another Country, published in 1962, was far ahead of its time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book because I had previously read - and very much loved - "Giovanni's room". It's not been easy at the beginning to enter into this one. Baldwin just places you in the middle of a story or, better, in the middle of a life, in this case Rufus' life, a coloured young musician who wanders New York's streets after something very terrible happened to him (and we don't know, of course, what). But then it comes the moment you realize it's not a story you're reading about, not a plot in the conventional sense of the term; you don't have to look for something to happen, but just for life, feelings, and relationships between people. In this case all made the more complex by the fact that these people belong to two different "countries", the black one and the white one. But that's not the only problematic issue faced by Baldwin in the novel, and that's the reason why so many readers had been so shocked by it. If the borders between the white country and the black one are very confused, very difficult to define, the same happens with love borders, which keep moving in very unpredictable directions.
There's a lot of humanity in this book, in the broadest sense of the word. It's difficult to remain detached, because Baldwin has a very powerful way of speaking to "you" just when he seems to write about things so distant from you and your world. And he does it in a very painful way too.
There's a lot of humanity in this book, in the broadest sense of the word. It's difficult to remain detached, because Baldwin has a very powerful way of speaking to "you" just when he seems to write about things so distant from you and your world. And he does it in a very painful way too.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The interaction between the characters in Another Country was a very real and in-your-face representaion of love: love for your friends, and supposed friends; and the love that people search to give and receive. The conversations between all of the characters mirrored feelings and obstacles that I have come across in relationships, most accurately, the thin line between love, hate, and guilt. JB knew that it didn't matter who the love came from, but that the fact that you were loved and loved somebody was important. Another Country, however is not for everybody, especially those who are threatened by homosexuality. However, if you have an open mind and have any experience with love, you will be ble to relate to this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great vision of Gay society in the soggy end of NYC
Wonderful story of relationships, gay/hetero/social/commercial that covers so much of the lower east side, Harlem, & their better-heeled neighbours. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kev Johnson
3.0 out of 5 stars
book rev
thhe story by James Baldwin is very moving and powerful novel a pleasure to read my one complaint was the condition of the book with pen marks and writing throughuot which spoil... Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breakin' on through...
I first read this book in 1966, during a summer I was working in the steel mill in Homestead, just outside Pittsburgh. Read more
Published 21 months ago by John P. Jones III
2.0 out of 5 stars
noble failure
Baldwin wrote wonderful, perceptive essays, but as many critics have said, he lacked the imaginative power to write great novels. Read more
Published 23 months ago by rob crawford
1.0 out of 5 stars
Overcomplicated flabby prose
I'm a bit of a completist and don't like to leave a book unfinished once i've started it, but with Another Country, I was happy to concede defeat. Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2009
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
A multi-layered exploration about the struggle to relate, both heterosexually and homosexually, and to find one's true sexuality. Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2008 by P. Greenhalgh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Time for a New York Revival!
This is C20th American Literature at its best. OK, I know it was written in the "jazzy" 60s and the dialogue is dated but the issues are alive and the writing is great. Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2003 by Mr. Ewan Mcdonald
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating account of contemporary inner conflicts.
Baldwin's poetic narrative style is a joy to read. The theme of isolation and the development of the self in a troubled environment, is at times deeply moving and at others... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2000
3.0 out of 5 stars
Skip it, definitely not his best
I am usually quite an avid Baldwin fan but I was a bit surprised by why this book got rave reviews. It is certainly not vintage Baldwin: it does not have the quick, emotional... Read more
Published on 26 May 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
James Baldwin's "Another Country" is a powerful book that attacks issues of race and love from an extremely different angle. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 1998
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