this was my first time reading anything written by james baldwin and I’m gonna have to stare at a wall after going through it. for such a short novella it has all the emotional interiority and complexity of a full novel. it sums up some of the ugliest and scariest parts of wanting to be loved and cared for from the perspective of a woefully insecure queer man. and david is unfortunately a single-minded man who simply doesn’t know himself well enough to build any type of healthy or functioning relationship with the people in his life. would only recommend this if you’re looking for an intensely passionate, character-driven drama and can stand blatant infidelity and first-person narration by someone with a self-hating personality.

was the only thing preventing a 5 star rating due to a lingering presence of old school 1950’s misogyny? yep! will I ever reread this? my heart couldn’t handle it. but will I be reading everything james baldwin has published? absolutely.