Chapter 9, A Garret in Paris Summary

Langston purchased a new suit and coat and traveled to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where his mother and stepfather were living. He visited for a while, and then returned to New York in search of another sailing vessel. He was employed as a mess boy on a freighter that ran between New York and Holland. After one and a half trips, Langston had had enough of the ocean and asked for his pay, then traveled to Paris.

His first few months in Paris were difficult; he could not find a job because he wasn't Parisian, and his mother could not send him a loan. Eventually he got a job as a doorman at a nightclub. The job was unsatisfying, and, with the help of Rayford Logan, a fan of Hughes' poetry, Hughes got another job as a...