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Giovanni's Room (Vintage International)

From one of the most brilliant and provocative literary figures of the past century comes a groundbreaking novel set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris, about love and the fear of love—“a book that belongs in the top rank of fiction” (The Atlantic).

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

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.

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178 pages

Average rating: 7.79

487 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
Apr 02, 2025
8/10 stars
if u listen closely u can hear my distant, strangled sobs
jimbat.628
Feb 11, 2025
7/10 stars
Took points of for it taking place in France.
Anonymous
Dec 12, 2024
10/10 stars
r.i.p. david you would have loved "so american" by olivia rodrigo
get.a.jeevan
Sep 02, 2024
10/10 stars
parfait
Anonymous
Dec 28, 2023
4/10 stars
Interesting concept, powerful plot, but just couldn't get into the writing style.

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