Giovanni's Room

A Novel

James Baldwin's groundbreaking novel with a new introduction.

Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. David has just proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, but while she is away on a trip he becomes involved in a doomed affair with a bartender named Giovanni. With sharp, probing insight, James Baldwin's classic narrative delves into the mystery of love and tells a deeply moving story that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one."
--Michael Ondaatje

"A young American involved with both a woman and a man...Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candor and yet with such dignity and intensity."
--The New York Times

"Absorbing...[with] immediate emotional impact."
--The Washington Post

"Mr. Baldwin has taken a very special theme and treated it with great artistry and restraint."
--Saturday Review

"Exciting...a book that belongs in the top rank of fiction."
--The Atlantic

"Violent, excruciating beauty."
--San Francisco Chronicle

The story was concise. It was visual but not overly so. I really liked that it was a short story.

It was the first time I heard or read anything by James Baldwin. I understand now why he is considered one of the greatest writers of our time.

beautiful read

this book was so eloquently written and is one of his best pieces of work

Shame and Guilt

When I say I love reading novels from a villain’s perspective this is what I mean.

Heartbreaking

One hundred years ago and so little has changed. I want to read it again and savor the language

How much queerness has not changed.

Amazing, and powerful! Such a profound and insightful read. James Baldwin is prophetic, and always timely.