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Giovanni’s Room

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What to expect

Recommended by Zendaya.

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.

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

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

'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

©1956 James Baldwin (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Extraordinarily exact and complex emotional intimacy . . . At the core of the novel lies Baldwin’s recognition that with a denial of suffering and pain as a means of happiness, there can be no feeling, understanding, or real connection in life
Guardian
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 can. Do we know how to live in a purely queer world not defined by resistance or self-hatred?’
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.
Guardian
The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and paradox
The New Yorker
It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere else
Vogue
A mesmerizing book
NPR

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
Author James Baldwin
Narrator Matthew Bomer, Kevin Young
Duration 6 hours and 4 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781802067224
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre Classic fiction, FXT, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Social issues
Collections A Book A Day, LGBTQ+
Availability AU, GB, IE
Rating
5.0 (3 reviews)
Narration
5.0 (3 reviews)

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