Giovanni's Room (Penguin Modern Classics) - Softcover

Baldwin, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141186356 ISBN 13: 9780141186351

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2001

Synopsis

'Exquisite... a feat of fire-breathing, imaginative daring' Guardian

Baldwin's ground-breaking second novel, which established him as one of the great American writers of his time

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.

'Excruciating beauty' San Francisco Chronicle

'Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous' Caryl Phillips

About this title

Review:

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)

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 this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0141186356
• ISBN 13: 9780141186351
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176