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 Tóibín ― The New Yorker

Startling… This is Mr. Baldwin’s subject, the rareness and difficulty of love — Granville Hicks

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.