James Baldwin - O Quarto de Giovanni

David, a young New Yorker, is drifting through life in Paris, a city where he’s trying to take control of his future while his fiancée spends some time in Spain.

One night, during a wild outing at an underground bar, David meets Giovanni—a luminous, seductive, provocative Italian bartender—and feels irresistibly drawn to him. The two men embark on an intense relationship, confined to Giovanni’s room, all the while overshadowed by the looming return of Hella. A postcard brings the inevitable: the fiancée is coming back to Paris. Her return forces David to choose between the normalcy of a secure life with Hella and the uncertainty of a future with Giovanni—who is all heart, strength, and instinct. The American’s decision will ultimately lead to an unimaginable tragedy. Steeped in passion, regret, and longing, this is the story of a tragic love triangle. And a deserved cult classic that explores identity from multiple angles. When it was published in 1956, Baldwin broke more than a taboo: he was a Black writer telling the story of love between two white men. His editor advised him to burn the manuscript, yet Giovanni’s Room has become one of Baldwin’s most celebrated works.