Giovanni’s Room
Published in 1956 against his publisher advice, with white characters so nobody could mistake what the novel was actually about.
An American in Paris leaves his fiancee for an Italian barman and then destroys them both rather than accept what he is. Baldwin published it in 1956 against his publisher advice, and wrote it with white characters so the subject could not be mistaken for anything else. The most unsparing novel of self-deception in American letters.
Recommended by 1 Person
Maria Popova
James Baldwin (August 2, 1924–December 1, 1987) defies this marketable myth in a stunning passage from Giovanni’s Room (public library) — the semi-autobiographical novel gave us Baldwin’s equally incisive reflection on love, freedom, and the paradox of choice.
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