Published in 1962, this is an emotionally intense novel of love, hatred, race, and liberal America in the 1960s. Set in Greenwich 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.
Despite its dated lingo and moral standards, this classic audiobook feels both fresh and potent. One reason is the narration of Dion Graham, whose velvet intonation is a perfect match for this novel. The other reason for its freshness might be Baldwin's nonjudgmental style--particularly in regard to the racial and sexual tensions that bind his hipster jazz musicians, artists, and writers. Like Hemingway's take on Paris in the '20s or Fellini's portrait of Rome in the '50s, Baldwin's encapsulation of late '50s Greenwich Village seems spot on, like a perfectly preserved diorama. It's hard to believe that it's taken almost five decades to bring this epic story to audio, but this classy unabridged recording is definitely worth the wait. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
About the Author
James Baldwin (1924–1987) was educated in New York. He is the author of more than twenty works of fi ction and nonfi ction, including Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country, and Blues for Mister Charlie. He has received many awards including the Eugene F. Saxon Memorial Trust Award, a Rosenwald Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Partisan Review Fellowship, and a Ford Foundation grant. He was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1986.
