This novel is about an American gay man named David who is engaged to a woman who finds another man named Giovanni while he is in France and they fall in love. David battles with his internalized homophobia and his relationship problems. This is one of Baldwin's greatest works.

The major themes of this book are enmeshing racism with homophobia. The plot is about a group of friends experiencing certain struggles such as incest and people against civil rights.

This is a semi-autobiographical novel about a boy growing up in a highly religious environment. The novel explores themes of repression, desire, and race.

This book deals with themes of interracial love, homosexual love, race and nationalism, willing ignorance, and black homosexual masculinity. The book is third-person but very closely aware of the characters emotions, such as a character that is abused by her husband and then needs to be hospitalized for depression.