Giovanni's Room (Modern Classics)

Author(s): James Baldwin

Classics | LGBTQIA

James Baldwin's groundbreaking novel about love and the fear of love is set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris. David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni's curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella's return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy. Caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality, David struggles for self-knowledge during one long, dark night -- "the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life." With sharp, probing insight, Giovanni's Room tells an impassioned, deeply moving story that lays bare the unspoken complexities of the human heart.


Product Information

James Baldwin is an undeniable progenitor of the 20th century literary canon, whose works on race, gender and sexuality continute to be foundational and pivotal points of reference. Giovanni's Room, released in 1956, chronicles the love affair between a young American gentleman and the enigmatic bartender, Giovanni. Set in the heart of Paris, it is a tour-de-force of queer love, reflection and rebellion. Through mystifying prose, Baldwin demands that we love with reckless abandon. Gorgeous and intimate, you'll keep coming back to this one long after you've turned the last page. Aeva, Camberwell

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.

General Fields

  • : 9780141186351
  • : Penguin Books, Limited
  • : Penguin Books, Limited
  • : 0.138
  • : November 2004
  • : 198mm X 129mm X 10mm
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : James Baldwin
  • : FA
  • : 176
  • : 813/.54
  • : English
  • : Paperback