and Vivaldo as a writer struggling with a writer's block because of his love affairs, in the manner of Baldwin himself. Baldwin has also been identified with Ida, as Rufus's advocate after death, and Richard, a writer who has become successful. Baldwin later said that he developed the character of Rufus to complement and explain Ida. The book has been described as an implicit criticism of Mailer's The White Negro and its passive romanticization of black culture. Brandon Gordon describes this critique in terms of the relationship between Vivaldo and Rufus, mediated by Leona. Gordon writes: "Contrary to Vivaldo's expectations, emulating the African American's hypermasculine sexual ethos does not ultimately enable him to fulfill the hipster's fantasy of embodied identification." He concludes that, in fact, Vivaldo's homosexual encounter with Eric at the end of the novel—and specifically the fact that Vivaldo is penetrated—represents a truer form of "embodied identification" with another. One author felt the title echoes lines in Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta: References 1962 American novels Novels by James Baldwin Novels set in New York City Novels about writers Novels about artists Novels about race and ethnicity American LGBT novels 1960s LGBT novels Dial Press books Censored books Novels with bisexual themes Male bisexuality in fiction African-American novels