# Read the first page of Another Country by James Baldwin Read the opening of Another Country by James Baldwin free, no signup. A struggling musician's friends navigate love and identity across 1960s New York. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/another-country-james-baldwin - Genre: Literary fiction - Year: 1962 - ISBN: 9780804149716 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9780804149716&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9780804149716 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9780804149716 ## The opening He was facing Seventh Avenue, at Times Square. It was past midnight and he had been sitting in the movies, in the top row of the balcony, since two o'clock in the afternoon. Twice he had been awakened by the violent accents of the Italian film, once the usher had awakened him, and twice he had been awakened by caterpillar fingers between his thighs. He was so tired, he had fallen so low, that he scarcely had the energy to be angry; nothing of his belonged to him anymore —you took the best, so why not take the rest?-but he had growled in his sleep and bared the white teeth in his dark face and crossed his legs. Then the balcony was nearly empty, the Italian film was approaching a climax; he stumbled down the endless stairs into the street. He was hungry, his mouth felt filthy. He realized too late, as he passed through the doors, that he wanted to urinate. And he was broke. And he had nowhere to go. The policeman passed him, giving him a look. Rufus turned, pulling up the collar of his leather jacket while the wind nibbled delightedly at him through his summer slacks, and started north on Seventh Avenue. He had been thinking of going downtown and waking up Vivaldo—the only friend he had left in the city, or maybe in the world—but now he decided to walk up as far as a certain jazz bar and night club and look in. Maybe somebody would see him and recognize him, maybe one of the guys would lay enough bread on him for a meal or at least subway fare. At the same time, he hoped that he would not be recognized. The Avenue was quiet, too, most of its bright lights out. Here and there a woman passed, here and there a man; rarely, a couple. At corners, under the lights, near drugstores, small knots of white, bright, chattering people showed teeth to each other, pawed each other, whistled for taxis, were whirled away in them, vanished through the doors of drugstores or into the blackness of side streets. Newsstands, like small black blocks on a board, held down corners of the pavements and policemen and taxi drivers and others, harder to place, stomped their feet before them and exchanged such words as they both knew with the muffled vendor within. A sign advertised the chewing gum which would help one to relax and keep smiling. A hotel's enormous neon name challenged the starless sky. So did the names of movie stars and people currently appearing or scheduled to appear on Broadway, along with the mile-high names of the vehicles which would carry them into immortality. The great buildings, unlit, blunt like the phallus or sharp like the spear, guarded the city which never slept. Beneath them Rufus walked, one of the fallen—for the weight of this city was murderous—one of those who had been crushed on the day, which was every day, these towers fell. Entirely alone, and dying of it, he was part of an unprecedented multitude. There were boys and girls drinking coffee at the drugstore counters who were held back from his condition by barriers as perishable as their dwindling cigarettes. They could scarcely bear their knowledge, nor could they have borne the sight of Rufus, but they knew why he was in the streets tonight, why he rode subways all night long, why his stomach growled, why his hair was nappy, his armpits funky, his pants and shoes too thin, and why he did not dare to stop and take a leak. ## Books with a similar feel - [Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri](https://uncovered.ink/read/unaccustomed-earth-jhumpa-lahiri.md) - [The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-mighty-red-louise-erdrich.md) - [A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara](https://uncovered.ink/read/a-little-life-hanya-yanagihara.md) - [Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney](https://uncovered.ink/read/beautiful-world-where-are-you-sally-rooney.md) - [Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison](https://uncovered.ink/read/song-of-solomon-toni-morrison.md) - [Bewilderment by Richard Powers](https://uncovered.ink/read/bewilderment-richard-powers.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.