Giovanni’s Room was initially rejected but has remained relevant nearly seventy years after its initial publication and will continue to fascinate its readers for many more to come.In a world where banning books is becoming encouraged in some states, it's important-now more than ever-to read and support authors whose work might be subject to censorship. You have to make sacrifices and fight for the things you want, but Baldwin proves that these things that make up who you are do not also define your limits. Sometimes, doing the things you truly want to do can also be the hardest thing you can do. Please don’t take this as my minimizing any writers for focusing on racism because I think it is of the utmost importance it be discussed, but I applaud Baldwin for expanding his scope to whatever he wanted it to be. He could have benefitted his career by focusing his writing on that concept alone, but instead he chose to let all of the pieces of his identity flow from his hands and into his writing. Giovanni’s Room was actually rejected by Knopf because they wanted to do more writing surrounding the concept of the black experience. Not only this, but he challenged his own career and potential by choosing to to write on matters outside of race (and hear me out here). I chose to focus our attention on Giovanni’s Room because Baldwin was able to become a sort-of father figure to people of all different races. Years later, Giovanni’s Room has come to influence countless writers by paving the way for Queer literature. Maybe not in regard to his own relationships, because I understand the desire to keep things private, but through his writing. His sexuality could have caused him to be rejected by the black community as well, yet he brought it into conversation anyway.

The thing about Baldwin is that it seems as though his sexuality was just as important to him as his race.

Very plainly, Baldwin had a vision for what he wanted to make of this novel and he embodied those characters with ease to do so.

You can do a quick search of Baldwin’s writing that surrounds race relations (my personal favorite is “A Letter to My Nephew”) and you will quickly realize it was not because it was he was afraid to speak on the topic. At first this was questioned by many people, but I find it to be absolutely genius on his part. What is very interesting about this novel is also the fact that Baldwin’s two main characters are white.

Before I get started, I do have to address the fact that Giovanni’s Room is not about race at all-it is entirely centered around the theme of sexuality and the shame that surrounds it.

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