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Giovanni's Room

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Giovanni's Room

Written by: James Baldwin
Narrated by: Matthew Bomer, Kevin Young
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About this listen

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

 City Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Urban
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Critic Reviews

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
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?’ (Hilton Als)
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)
The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and paradox (Colm Tóibín)
It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere else (Troye Sivan)
A mesmerizing book (Chris Abani)
All stars
Most relevant
The writing is surreal and the characters are so well fleshed out. Must read for all romantics ❤️

Elegant & Must Read

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