On the Publication History of “Giovanni’s Room”

            Giovanni’s Room was published in 1958 by Dial Press in New York and was Baldwin’s second novel, the first being Go Tell It on the Mountain. After the successful and critically acclaimed publication of his first book, Baldwin claimed that he was now stuck in a trap, “[N]ow I was a writer, a Negro writer, and I was expected to write diminishing versions of Go Tell It on the Mountain forever.  Which I refused to do.” (Wiggins, 2019). Thus, Baldwin wrote Giovanni’s Room. A work which is concerned with a love affair between two men set in Paris. This, one might note, is very different from Go Tell It on the Mountain which is based on Baldwin’s own life, and set in Harlem. One should also note that while Baldwin’s first novel is concerned with issues facing the African American community Giovanni’s Room features an all-white cast of characters as well. (Wiggins, 2019).

Upon receiving the book Baldwin’s publisher told him he should burn it. Though upon release the novel was generally well received. Long term, however, the book came to be viewed as weak and without depth. (Wiggins, 2019). This opinion has changed over time, and the novel has now become a focus of scholarly work as more people work with Queer Literature.

This evolution of the way people think about Giovanni’s Room is a critically important example of the power of Queer literary studies and its restorative abilities. Part of this area of study is proving that queer stories have always existed and that explicitly queer characters and narratives already exist. It is the restorative ability of the field which has led to the increased popularity of Giovanni’s Room, or rather, the growth of the work’s popularity. As such, the reader should consider that when scholars work specifically with Queer Stories and Queer Literature there is an element of restoration. It is as if to say, “We’ve always been here.”