TITLE: Giovanni's Room
AUTHOR: James Baldwn
PUBLISHER: The Dial Press
PUBLISHED DATE: 1956
ASIN: B000HDFL7C
PAGES: 248
I've always wanted to read this literary classic, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.
Giovanni's Room is Baldwin's fearless classic tackling themes of identity, sexuality, relationships, friendship and travel, among so many other things. This is probably a book I will come back to and read again, as it is a significant piece that has contributed greatly to the LGBTQIA community.
David, an American vacationing in Paris, has a playful relationship with Giovanni, an Italian, stranded in Paris. What starts as play turns into a passionate love affair between the two men that shakes David to his core. The problem? David is engaged. To a woman. When she returns from a trip, David puts his hot love affair with Giovanni on pause, leaving Giovanni, destitute, depressed, and bewildered. David tries to play it off as if t never happened. But of course...it did, and he must now navigate what it means to love, to lust, ...to live as one's self or to live on the terms created by the world. The book was a bit slow for me....but it's testament as a classic remains cemented.
Recommendation: If you haven't read it, read it.
Audience: Millennials and Beyond
*I purchased this audiobook from Audible.