Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin had an early career as a teenage preacher. He lived in Paris from 1948-1956 and his first novels, the autobiographical GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and GIOVANNI'S ROOM established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes of his later works, such as racism and sexuality. He became a prominent spokesperson for racial equality, especially during the civil rights movement. He lived in France during his last years. Baldwin died in 1987.
Today, when a great many arguments and complaints from the queer
quarters of the political sphere have to do with what has been done
to queerness by the patriarchy and by whiteness, Baldwin asks, in
Giovanni’s Room, what love looks like, ultimately, when we leave
all those bags at the door — and if we can. Do we know how to live
in a purely queer world not defined by resistance or
self-hatred?’
*New York Times Style Magazine*
The whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the
myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do.
*Guardian*
The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and
paradox
*The New Yorker*
It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere
else
*Vogue*
A mesmerizing book
*NPR*
If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our
20th-century one
*Michael Ondaatje*
Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candour and yet with
such dignity and intensity
*The New York Times*
Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous
*Caryl Phillips*
Baldwin, in this novel, made clear that he could work wonders with
the light and shade of intimacy
*The New Yorker*
Startling... This is Mr. Baldwin's subject, the rareness and
difficulty of love
*Granville Hicks*
If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our
20th-century one -- Michael Ondaatje
Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candour and yet with
such dignity and intensity * The New York Times *
Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous -- Caryl
Phillips
Baldwin, in this novel, made clear that he could work wonders with
the light and shade of intimacy -- Colm Toibin * The New Yorker
*
Startling... This is Mr. Baldwin's subject, the rareness and
difficulty of love -- Granville Hicks
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