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Heralded as a masterpiece and widely regarded as a touchstone of queer literature, James Baldwin’s 1956 novel Giovanni’s Room tells the story of a young American man’s poignant love affair in 1950s Paris. Addressing questions of sexuality, morality, and nationality with an unflinching gaze and a sharp pen, Baldwin crafts an achingly honest tale of love, death, and desire that is raw, emotional, and absolutely unforgettable.
When David left America, he thought he would be able to find freedom on the foreign streets of Paris. Now his money is running low; his girlfriend, Hella, is traveling through Spain contemplating his marriage proposal; and his father’s letters are urging his return. Unsure of his future, he has a chance encounter with Giovanni—a beautiful Italian bartender who is in Paris to mourn his own past—that leads to a reluctant yet passionate affair, one that will teach David that even the ocean isn’t wide enough to escape the memories that he’s spent years trying to outrun.
Caught between two lovers, torn between convention and passion, and hastened by Hella’s return, David struggles to negotiate his origins, identity, and sexuality to make a decision that will shape his future. Told over the course of one tormented night that will end in tragedy, Giovanni’s Room is a portrait of longing and a warning of the dangers of love suppressed that is equally moving, devastating, and brilliant.
The following questions are designed to enrich your reading group’s discussion of Giovanni’s Room. We hope they encourage thoughtful conversation and deepen your understanding of James Baldwin’s modern classic.
(Introduction provided by the publisher)
In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality.
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.
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 a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin’s now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a deeply moving story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.
(Summary provided by the publisher)
James Baldwin (1924–1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.
(Biography provided by Penguin Random House)
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(Suggested reading provided by the publisher)
