Lyrical and tender, this is a short book but you’ll want to read it slowly simply because every page is packed with something devastating or gorgeous...or both “For I am—or I was—one of those people who pride themselves on their willpower, on their ability to make a decision and carry it through. This virtue, like most virtues, is ambi­guity itself. People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception. Their deci­sions are not really decisions at all—a real decision makes one humble, one knows that it is at the mercy of more things than can be named—but elaborate systems of evasion, of illusion, designed to make themselves and the world appear to be what they and the world are not.”
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Short and enthralling, with prose that is both breezy and profound and a simple yet confounding story. It’s like a snapshot of someone’s heart. I think the scenery and emotion of this book brought about a natural and gorgeous visualization of the story, which is wonderful to experience.
Sep 20, 2024
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halfway through only but so beautifully written!!
Oct 15, 2024
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The way Baldwin writes really makes you feel it. I highly recommend if you like being messy or wonder what it would be like to be a bisexual man in 1950s paris.
Apr 11, 2025

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