quarrel with his strong emphasis on more research and knowledge, but it still remains true that much of the unhappiness of homosexuals is due to the unwholesome and unjust pressure brought to bear upon them by an ignorant and prejudiced society, not to speak of self-appointed experts (?) who rationalize the very prejudices they purport to oppose. The book throws no light on homosexuality either as a society or a culture and in listing it with alcoholism, mental disease, and criminality, the author shows that he is not in harmony with the best thought of the present period in the area of sex deviation.

T. M. M.

ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin, Dial Press, Inc., New York City, 1962, 436 pages, $5.95.

Every first rate novelist has a highly personal vision of the world, and within that vision he creates his novels. Although Another Country is a fine combination of craftsmanship, and powerful lyrical prose, the vision that encompasses it is not only limited, but also, is stereotyped to a surprising degree.

The craftsmanship an immensely convincing and exciting plot-enables the life and death of Rufus Scott, a Negro jazz musician, (who commits suicide on page 88) to be the driving theme of the entire novel and to motivate the development of six other characters (Negro and White) in complex interrelation.

The degree to which Another Country's vision is limited and stereotyped is distressing when compared with the wide vision and lucid objectivity of Mr. Baldwin's essays. The love-hate affairs between Rufus and Leona (white), and Vivaldo (white) and Ida (Negro) are examples in . point. The stereotyped tone and quality of those affairs is, perhaps, in-

evitable, because Mr. Baldwin is unwilling or incapable of portraying a sincere love affair between Negroes -homosexual or heterosexual. Since his vision is, generically, that of an intelligent, sensitive Negro who hates white people, his lack of portraits of love between Negroes places him in the anomalous position of the mythical painter who is blind to primary colors and, thus, is forced to express himself in secondary colors only. However, when those interracial couples verge on becoming hopelessly stereotyped, the voice of Mr. Baldwin, the essayist speaks out; and the effect is that of lights brightening a stage and revealing the players in full di-

mensions.

(It should be noted that not either Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, P. Dodson nor any other Negro novelist has produced a major portrait of love affairs between Negroes.)

Mr. Baldwin portrays Ida as an ambitious singer, a part-time whore who lives with her white lover and who uses the grossest profanity. Although Mr. Baldwin reveals the adverse pressures, sociological and psychological, that molded her, the reader cannot help wondering whether Mr. Baldwin's intense concern with homosexuality inclined him to create an unflattering characterization of her -a beautiful Negro woman, the "natural" rival of Negro homosexuals.

This is not to say that Another Country is lacking in depth of vision and objectivity. On the contrary, the relationship between Eric and Yves is a sincere and moving dramatization of a homosexual affair based in mutual love. And Eric's and Vivaldo's conversation, after the one and only time they made love to each other, is rich with mutual respect.

The enriching quality that children can give to the lives of couples who love, or have loved each other is dramatized in the marriage of Rich-

21