Giovanni’s Room Free Audiobook Download by James Baldwin

James Baldwin is an author known for his novel Giovanni's Room. The book was published in 1961, and it tells the story of a young black man who is living on the streets in New York. In this audiobook, Dan Butler reads James Baldwin's intimate account of one man's struggle through poverty and racism in America.

"Giovanni’s Room" is a short but powerful short story about two people, one white and one black. The narrator describes the white man Giovanni as this “beautiful, pathetic figure” who has been put in jail for committing no crime but for being black and he doesn’t know how to deal with it except by following the rules of society.

Giovanni, who is black and gay, watches white society without being able to participate, feeling like an outsider. He looks at all the other blacks in his area and they seem like they are so happy and carefree. Giovanni's second grade teacher tells him that he can't be happy just because of what he thinks is right. Giovanni has a violent reaction to this statement, putting a bloody nose on the teacher's face. The whole class starts laughing and Giovanni holds back tears as he watches them laugh at him.

Giovanni's Room is a book by James Baldwin that follows the lives of three sojourners who are connected. As they seek to settle in America and find jobs, they face one obstacle after another, including racial discrimination and poverty.

"A man has to die in this life more than once before he is allowed to be born again." James Baldwin's novel, Giovanni's Room had a profound impact on me. This book opened my eyes to the realities of what it means to be a black person in America during the 1950s and it helped me understand how discrimination still exists today. It took me awhile after reading the book to find an audiobook narrated by 'Dan Butler,' but I am glad I did because it felt like I was listening to the story being told by someone who was there. Giovanni's Room is a story about racism, oppression, sexuality, and freedom from hardship.

Whenever I need a break from the pressures of work, school, or life in general, I find my escape in the world of text. Just me and my smartphone screen that surrounds me.