An absolutely fantastic book which has the perfect combination of description, spoken, dialogue, and philosophy. ( )

Not my cup of meat, there's not much going on except the interactions of the main characters, and what goes on their heads. Still, Baldwin was a very accomplished writer, and gives us useful insight into what it was like, in 60s NYC with varying degrees of prospects, to be: black/straight/female; black/bi/male; white/straight/female; white/straight/male; white/bi/male; white/gay/male. Baldwin gives us an interesting perspective (being gay himself), in the end only the gay characters have their heads screwed on straight. ( )

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read."

In New York City a group of friends, black, white, married, single, bi and gay try to negotiate life. Rufus is a black musician in a tumultuous relationship with Leona, a southern white woman. “They fought each other with their hands and their voices and then their bodies.” He’s homeless and eventually comes to a bad end. His white friend, Vivaldo begins to see life through the eyes of Rufus, harsh and racist.

Rufus’ sister, Ida, tries to love Vivaldo, but the race gap is too much. She learns to use white men to get what she wants. Another friend, Richard, finds that finally approaching his goal of becoming a successful novelist has its drawbacks in his personal life. Eric, an actor, has been sequestered in France with his lover, Yves, but has returned for a part on Broadway. He becomes enmeshed with both Vivaldo and Richard’s wife, Cass.

Baldwin equates love with hostility and cruelty. He also paints a picture of the creative life as one of struggle, despair and compromise, especially if you’re black. This is anxiety fiction. No one is happy. They may have been happy once, long ago, but may not be again. ( )

Read first 50 pages just before book club. Black musician Rufus Scott wanders the streets of New York, remembering the events that led to his condition, which began with an affair with white, Southern Leona (this was published before Loving vs. Virginia).

"They knew that no one heard, that bloodless people cannot be made to bleed." (5)