In one of the greatest American classics Baldwin chronicles a fourteenyearold boys discovery of the terms of his identity. Baldwins rendering of his protagonists spiritual sexual and moral struggle of selfinvention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision psychological directness resonating symbolic power and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Originally published in 1953 Baldwin said of his first novel Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else. With vivid imagery with lavish attention to details ... a feverish story. The New York Times show more