Program Description
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February's book for the DPL Book Club is James Baldwin's 1956 novel Giovanni's Room.
From the publisher:
In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality.
David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni’s curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella’s return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy.
David struggles for self-knowledge during one long, dark night—“the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life.” With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin’s now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a deeply moving story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.
The book club meets on the third Wednesday each month at 6:30 PM at Dormont Public Library, 2950 West Liberty Ave. Copies of the book will be available at the library about one month before the book club date. This title is also available on the Libby app as an ebook or audiobook.
This is a book club for adults 21 and over; feel free to BYOB. For more information, call 412-531-8754 or email dormont@dormontlibrary.org.