Giovanni's Room
Giovanni's Room
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Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' Baldwin's ground-breaking second novel, which established him as one of the great American writers of his time 'Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous' Caryl Phillips 'Exquisite, a feat of fire-breathing, imaginative daring' Guardian David, a young American in 1950s Paris, is waiting for his fiancée to return from vacation in Spain. But when he meets Giovanni, a handsome Italian barman, the two men are drawn into an intense affair. After three months David's fiancée returns and, denying his sexuality, he rejects Giovanni for a 'safe' future as a married man — a decision that will bring tragedy, longing and regret. 'Gorgeous, fearless, tempered by dark knowledge and pain ... the greatest American prose stylist of his generation' Colm Tóibín 'A layered exploration of queer desire ... It is electric' Hilton Als
Today, when a great many arguments and complaints from the queer quarters of the political sphere have to do with what has been done to queerness by the patriarchy and by whiteness, Baldwin asks, in Giovanni’s Room, what love looks like, ultimately, when we leave all those bags at the door — and if we canDo we know how to live in a purely queer world not defined by resistance or self-hatred?’ -- Hilton Als * New York Times Style Magazine *
The whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. -- Garth Greenwell * Guardian *
The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and paradox -- Colm Tóibín * The New Yorker *
It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere else -- Troye Sivan * Vogue *
A mesmerizing book -- Chris Abani * NPR *
If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one -- Michael Ondaatje
Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candour and yet with such dignity and intensity * The New York Times *
Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous -- Caryl Phillips
Baldwin, in this novel, made clear that he could work wonders with the light and shade of intimacy -- Colm Tóibín * The New Yorker *
Startling... This is Mr. Baldwin's subject, the rareness and difficulty of love -- Granville Hicks
The whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. -- Garth Greenwell * Guardian *
The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and paradox -- Colm Tóibín * The New Yorker *
It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere else -- Troye Sivan * Vogue *
A mesmerizing book -- Chris Abani * NPR *
If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one -- Michael Ondaatje
Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candour and yet with such dignity and intensity * The New York Times *
Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous -- Caryl Phillips
Baldwin, in this novel, made clear that he could work wonders with the light and shade of intimacy -- Colm Tóibín * The New Yorker *
Startling... This is Mr. Baldwin's subject, the rareness and difficulty of love -- Granville Hicks
Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin had an early career as a teenage preacher. He lived in Paris from 1948-1956 and his first novels, the autobiographical GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and GIOVANNI'S ROOM established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes of his later works, such as racism and sexuality. He became a prominent spokesperson for racial equality, especially during the civil rights movement. He lived in France during his last years. Baldwin died in 1987.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780141186351 |
| ISBN 10 | 0141186356 |
| Title | Giovanni's Room |
| Author | James Baldwin |
| Series | Penguin Modern Classics |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2001-10-04 |
| Number of pages | 176 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |