The Makings of a Man

James Baldwin Publishes Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin published Giovanni's Room, a groundbreaking novel about a young American man's love affair with an Italian bartender in Paris. The book was one of the first novels by a major American author to deal explicitly with homosexuality and bisexuality. Baldwin's publisher had urged him to burn the manuscript, warning it would destroy his career. Baldwin, who was Black and bisexual, had moved to Paris in 1948 partly to escape the intersecting racism and homophobia of America. He went on to become one of the most important writers and public intellectuals of the twentieth century, with works including Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, and Another Country.