Giovanni's Room (corner bumps) - James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin / ISBN 9780241718599 / 178-page book published in 2024 in the Penguin Clothbound Classics series / light bumps to the corners from inbound shipping

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A beautiful new Clothbound edition of Baldwin's ground-breaking novel, which established him as one of the great American writers of his time

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

'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 sexuality, he rejects Giovanni for a 'safe' future as a married man — a decision that will bring tragedy, longing and regret.

'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