Another Country Book

Sprawling and introspective, Another Country explores the many forms love and longing can take. Set in Greenwich Village and Harlem during the late fifties, Baldwin's third novel centers on the malaise and messy affairs of a small group of friends following the grisly suicide of one of the circle's key members. Characters cheat on each other, cross class and racial boundaries, and strive for greatness even as despair threatens to consume them. Again and again they ask themselves and others whether or not they're loved'the question's recited like an incantation throughout the novel's three slow-moving sections'and with great insight Baldwin muses about the impact of social identity on romance. The end's a bit abrupt, and the work's not as thoughtfully plotted as his first two novels, but it's still astounding and well worth checking out.