& Exquisite a feat of fire-breathing imaginative daring& Guardian Baldwin&s ground-breaking second novel which established him as one of the great American writers of his time David a young American in 1950s Paris is waiting for his fiancee to return from vacation in Spain But when he meets Giovanni a handsome Italian barman the two men are drawn into an intense affair After three months David&s fiancee returns & denying his true nature he rejects Giovanni for a &safe& future as a married man His decision eventually brings tragedy Filled with passion regret & longing this story of a fated love triangle has become a landmark of gay writing James Baldwin caused outrage as a black author writing about white homosexuals yet for him the issues of race sexuality & personal freedom were eternally intertwined & Excruciating beauty& San Francisco Chronicle& Audacious remarkable elegant & courageous& Caryl Phillips