Giovanni's Room - Softcover

Baldwin, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440328810 ISBN 13: 9780440328810

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1985

Synopsis

Set in the contemporary Paris of American expatraites, liasons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. James Baldwin's brilliant narrative delves into the mystery of loving with a sharp, probing imagination, and he creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the heart.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

'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 true nature, he rejects Giovanni for a 'safe' future as a married man. His decision eventually brings tragedy.

Filled with passion, regret and longing, this story of a fated love triangle has become a landmark of gay writing. James Baldwin caused outrage as a black author writing about white homosexuals, yet for him the issues of race, sexuality and personal freedom were eternally intertwined.

'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

'Violent, excruciating beauty' San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author:

James Baldwin was the author of Go Tell It on the Mountain and The Fire Next Time, among other books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0440328810
• ISBN 13: 9780440328810
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback