Philadelphia

by Christopher Davis

Philadelphia - Das Buch zum Film - bk95; Goldmann Verlag; Christopher Davis; pocket_book; 1994

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Roman, Drama, German Literature, Gay, Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que maravilla!!!l Si no recuerdo mal el libro se escribió después de la película y es totalmente fiel a ella.

No puedo dejar de recomendar que la veáis, aún se me eriza el vello recordando a Tom Hanks con el gotero puesto y entre lágrimas, como le traduce y explica a Denzel Washington la magnífica aria que interpreta María Callas de fondo,es realmente bella, pero escuchada a través de la explicación de este gran actor es SUBLIME.

Una obra maestra!!!

[Axie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilettura a distanza di anni. Un film visto più volte con un cast eccezionale. Semplicemente meraviglioso. Voto: 9

[Partha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been extremely impacted by this book followed by watching the movie..

It moved me so much it motivated me to make a paradigm shift in my career ..yes..to work on HIV/AIDS projects for next 5 years..

The book is basically a promotion for the movie and author christopher davis has done a fabulous job on bringing alive the poignant tale of the protagonist - a HIV infected lawyer [played by Tom Hanks, which eventurally won him an oscars award]and his relationship with his law firm and its partners[which fired him], his lawyer[played by Denzel Washington]who eventually overcomes his fears about the illness and defends his client..

Of course, Actress and Director Revathy had drawn parallels from the movie and recently portrayed the film in Hindi called 'Phir Milenge' with a twist by having the protoganist[Shilpa Shetty played the lead which won her multiple awards] as a woman and has done a fairly wonderful job..

this book tugs my heart everytime i read it..

[Ashlei A.K.A Chyna Doll · Rating 5 out of 5]

At just a lil over 200+ pages this really is a fantastic book

It really was personal journey for me because like many others late 80's early 90's AIDS was Decimating the gay community at a alarming rate and I remember a man who I had loved very much being taken by this TERRIBLE DISEASE!!!!! This story really made me think about that time when I was 5 years old losing one of the 2 best man I had in my life...

This story is about a mans fight to survive and will to really Live and Love that not only give everyone hope around him, but changes people he encounters!! (Not just the wow that guys really strong, or wow he's brave but really changes others hearts FOR THE BETTER!!!) this whole book made me think of my God father and I was happy to have had a great friend to let me borrow this before she even got to read it!!!
Thanks Trish!!!

[Adrián · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simplemente decir que el libro como la película hace sentir en tu piel el sufrimiento, la desesperación de ver como tú futuro se acaba, la enfermedad te vence poco a poco aunque des el 100%, y la sociedad aprovecha para clavarte la puntilla :(. Os lo explicaré cómo a un niño de 6años: duro y real como la vida :(.

[LectoraEstherica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las ventanas daban al centro de la ciudad, y los elevados e iluminados edificios le recordaban un poco a Nueva York, aunque Andrew opinaba que Nueva York nunca podría ser tan hermosa.

Qué plorera.

Pero qué maravilla, y las últimas 50 páginas acompañada de Bruce Springsteen y su Streets of Philadelphia
➡️https://youtu.be/4z2DtNW79sQ

[Salvador Bañon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para ser una novela escrita a partir de la película no está nada mal

[Morgan Gao · Rating 4 out of 5]

****SPOILER ALERT******The book Philadelphia was extremely good. I had actually first seen the movie before reading the book and i had found out that the movie was almost exactly the same as the book. Every word is literally the same. It had been really good the whole way through, the terrible Wyant and Wheeler company that Andrew, a hot shot and rising star in the business, successfully sued with along side, black lawyer, Joe Miller, the love between Andy's boyfriend, Miguel and how loyal he is to AIDS Andy. It was really quite sad the ending of the book where Andy, after suing Wyant and Wheeler, dies in the hospital. By the way, Andrew had had AIDS and was publicly discriminated and that is why Andrew claimed why Wyant and Wheeler had fired him. But Wyant and Wheeler stated that they had fired him because he had nearly blew a very high case named the "High-line Case" even though Andrew had sworn that he had kept it in his computer. Andrew was outraged and in the movie, Tom Hanks had played gay Andrew Beckett and Joe Miller had been played by Denzel Washington. Andy had been diagnosed with Aids several years ago, he had realized he had been afflicted with lesions while one of the partners in Wyant and Wheeler, Mr Keaton, had realized a brown thing on Andy's head, Andrew had said that he had been hit by a tennis racket so that was where everything had started. In the end, Philadelphia had been an excellent book, when Andrew had taken Wyant and Wheeler to court is where you start to not be able to put the book down, seeing each testimony as a grasping chase for justice. It would be great to award this book with 4 stars. Well done. 4 STARS.

[Alan Asbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book to read, with such a moving and tragic story line. Its very short though, just over 200 pages, so doesn't take long to read, and would make an excellent travelling book.
Is it because Aids has seemingly disappeared from the news lately, but the book does read as a work of fiction. Yes I know it is fiction but the whole Aids story line did seem a little unreal.
Of course I know it wasn't and in the days of the books publication the Aids 'explosion' would have been very real to people of that time. Strange how time changes our perception of things, maybe the whole Cancer 'explosion' will one day seem so unreal, lets hope so.
Im a great fan of Grisham and thus love court dramas. The trials of the main character, Andrew, to get just rewards from being sacked through his Aids is brilliantly written.
I don't know Christopher Davis so I don't know if Aids had touched his life, he certainly writes with great appreciation and understanding of this terrible disease. This novel by Davis is directly from the film screenplay so if you have seen the film, as I have, you will recognised the dialogue and events exactly as seen and heard. Of course this means you will be 'tied' to the characters of the film (but Andrew just has to be Tom Hanks). Shame that as I do like to construct my characters from my imagination, small criticism though.
Overall Im very pleased to have found this little reading interval in Hay, it was a great break from the huge Le Carre Biography tome im travelling through.

[Cristian J.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hablemos de Philadelphia (libro) (spoilers)

Sinceramente, el final me ha dejado bastante frío. Si bien plantea temas interesantes y los lleva por un desarrollo con un ritmo fluido, la conclusión de libro rompe con todo lo que plantea. Al final los jueces solo juzgan por una incoherencia de la defensa, los empresarios no recapacitan sino que se lamentan por perder cinco millones y nosotros no aprendemos absolutamente nada.
La muerte del protagonista, como una suerte de mesías, debería haber significado la redención para la sociedad, en cambio el libro cierra con los recuerdos de sus padres diciendo que él había nacido para hacer algo grande. Entonces, ¿la conclusión es esa, pobrecitos los gays porque se mueren de sida y les putean en el trabajo? Habrá quien argumente que la respuesta está en Joe, que finalmente supera sus prejuicios y puede servir como una alegoría de nosotros mismos, pero entonces, ¿por qué ha tenido un desarrollo tan escaso? ¿Por qué hacía unas páginas seguía sintiendo repulsión? ¿Por qué solo se replanteaba sus prejuicios a raíz de la reacción de su esposa?

Todo esto se podría haber solucionado de dos formas: bien dotándole de más protagonismo y desarrollo a Joe o bien regalándonos un epílogo que mostrara que a raíz de ese juicio algo ha cambiado en Filadelfia y por consiguiente en el mundo, que esa ciudad que observaba Andrew desde su ático se podía volver incluso más hermosa.
Con todo esto no digo que el libro sea malo, sigo valorándolo con un 7 muy sólido, pero es una lástima que no se encuentre dentro de mis favoritos por tan poco..

[Giorgio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potente, emozionante, questi sono gli aggettivi che userei per descriverlo.
Si parla principalmente della discriminazione sessuale e salutare (è corretto il termine?).
Interessante il processo con cui l'avvocato Joe Miller, abbandona la sua omofobia, perché ricordiamolo, omofobo non è solo chi vuole picchiare i gay ma anche chi non ne sopporta il pensiero.
Dolcissimo il rapporto fra Andrew e Miguel, nonostante tutto rimangono insieme fino alla fine (lacrimuccia...). è il primo libro che leggo che è stato tratto da un film quindi non so dire se è scritto bene, anche perché il film non l'ho visto (sto già provvedendo).
Rimane un bellissimo libro, consigliata vivamente la lettura.

[Juan Nieto Cano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bueno me lo he leído en un sólo día. Un libro lleno de valores y sentimientos, que nos enseña que todos somos iguales y nos manda un mensaje para la tolerancia y contra la homofobia. El final superemotivo, toca muy mucho la fibra sensible, aunque me gustó muy más el final de la peli. Recuerdo que la vi en el cine con 12 años y fue la primera vez que lloré con una peli, y al leer el libro he podido entender mucho mejor a los personajes Andrew Beckett y Joe Miller.

[Melissa Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really changed my perspective. It made me see a lot of things, and taught me more about the disease, which most of the society knows very little about, and pretty often can mean social death.

It's a beautiful book, with a lot of touching moments and meaningful encounters.

A beautiful story: think twice, of the reason for your reactions. Don't let prejudice blind you.

[Weradi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the movie, so had to read the book. Both made me cry. I think it's so sad how people's fear and ignorance can influence them to discriminate, be hateful and cause even greater suffering for others. I'm sure this story has played itself out in numerous lives. Thank goodness for medicine; the huge stigma seems to be reduced commencorately.

[Bluetiful Hadeel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried through this book. And I even cried more watching its movie. Davis portrays the hero with a terrible illness and how this illness affects his everyday life. It's a tragic novel where Davis uses his might to make your soul rips out of you. Kindly read a light book afterwards. oh... and Happy Reading :)

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about a discrimination problem that is touching more and more lives. I also watched the movie after reading the book and found it well done, but as always, I found I loved the book more.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored this movie. It's an amazing story. But as a book...well, it reads like a screenplay with a lot of head-hopping. Worth a read for extra tidbits and background not given in the film.

[Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Triste pero emotivo.

[Extremo_delirio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesante tema, pero desarrollado así asá. Me gsutaría ver la película para poder compararlos, pero supongo que poco podrá sorprenderme ésta.

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome and inspiring!

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE FEELS OMG THE FEELS ARE REEAL

[laurxne]

i cried lol

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Emira Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact: The physical copy of this book has been in my house for years, at least 25 year that is my age, but no one knows how it appeared here, first of all my parents don’t read, and second and most important, it is in english and my parents dont speak english. So it really is a beautiful coincidence that I got to read this beautiful book.

I’m aware this story is originally a movie, and that the book is a direct screenplay adaptation of the film. And from various comments and reviews, apparently it is directly the same story, literally the same. But somehow, reading a book feels more intimate, you don’t really miss many details, as you can do while watching a motion picture. So saying I connected deeply to the movie lacks meaning. The story moved me in ways I can’t even comprehend. I touched my soul and permanently changed it. It is July, 2025 when I’m writing this review. And the world is not the place people in 1993 expected it to be. Right wing and conservative ideals are on the rise. Nazism is normalized and endorsed by governmental figures. Hatred towards immigrants is celebrated. Genocides are being ignored. Empathy is not cool anymore. Hate crimes towards LGBTQ+ people are not taken seriously. You can say 1993 was even more “woke” than the present, because at least people were willing to fight for a kinder world. I don’t think this movie/book was ahead of its time. 1993 was precisely the moment to be released, to be watched, to be talked about. If the same story, the same movie, was released in 2025, people will say this is too “woke”, that they’re trying to push an agenda, that gay people are trying to indoctrinate us. That the main characters, a gay man with AIDS, and a black lawyer, are forced inclusion. What a stupid world we live in today.

The story broke my heart, tore it apart, and stepped on it. It was such a sad story, that not only reassembled the story of Geoffrey Bowers and Clarence Cain, but also the reality that many gay people lived, especially during the AID’s global public health crisis. The discrimination towards LGBTQ+ individuals that were infected with the lethal virus that lead to horrible and painful deaths. And how the stigma of the disease, who no one would judge anyone with a deadly disease, but only affected gays individuals who contracted the virus trough risky homosexual encounters. Because as we see, Andrew was heavily judged for having AIDS, but people felt compassion for a woman who got infected via a blood transfusion. So the disease wasn't only accompanied by a death sentence, but a sentence of moral judgemental treatments.

The characters were beautifully written, substantial to the story, impacting Andrew's life in more ways that he was able to comprehend. His family supported him, even when they did not comprehend him at first, but the unconditional love was there, supporting and willing to be there with him until the very last minute even when it hurted them. His father's words moved me, his love for Andrew was incomprehensible even to himself. That is what a great father is. And the book is filled with the same incomprehensible love, these kinds of people are rare, we encounter them not many times. And that happened to Joe Miller, he hated Andrew, not for who he was and what he could control, but just because of his sexual orientation, he didn't even wanted to represent him at first, just because of his disease and sexual orientation, but finally decided to do it because he felt sorry for him, and wanted to prove something to his wife, who is the backbone of the movie, because she always knew that Joe was a good man. The character growth for Joe is beautiful, once he gets to know Andrew he meets the man he really is, not only in the way an attorney cares for a client, but once he puts all of his prejudices aside, he realizes Andrew is a good man who doesn't deserve what is happening to him, he starts seeing Andrew as a vulnerable man who's trying to do one last thing before he dies, for everyone to know he was a good man, a good lawyer, a good son, a good loving partner, regardless of his illness or his sexual orientation. Once everyone starts seeing this, and so does Joe, he sees him as a friend and that's where the sad story really begins. We see Andrew decay, and everyone around him worries. Everyone knows that Andrew is in the right, but nobody wants to give him the satisfaction, because of a moral compass, for simply being gay. The ending is expected, satisfactory in some way, because Andrew wins, more than anyone thinks he would, but he’s already in the hospital, dying, everyone knows, and they peacefully say good bye, in one way or another. They leave Andrew with Miguel, his charming partner, his loving soulmate. What a wonderful moment, what a devastating but calming feeling. You’re losing the love of your life, the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, and at the same time you’re gaining one, if not the most, precious moments of your life. How beautiful the scene was, it made me cry my eyes out.

I loved the book. The story line is multilayered. The characters are unique and complex. One of my favorites books for many reasons. I’m thrilled to watch the movie and cry even more.

[Ángela🍓 · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW IN ENGLISH, DOWN BELOW IT'S THE SAME BUT IN SPANISH

RESEÑA EN INGLÉS, MÁS ABAJO ESTÁ LA MISMA PERO EN ESPAÑOL

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REVIEW IN ENGLISH

Read between 24/05/20 and 29/05/20

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Quality of writing: 8
Plot development: 9
Characters: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Enjoyability: 9
Logic: 9.5

(This way of criticizing a book was originally created by jessie_reads_too_much. A link to her Instagram because I don't know wich her Goodreads username is)

Opinion:

I liked it, altough its not mindblowing. I would recomend it for a school read or for whom likes to read about discrimination.
Anyways, I think that the relationships between characters are very well done, also, there is a great balance between plot and characters. In fact, Andrew's family, including Miguel, his boyfriend; made me feel so happy. In the same way, Andrew and Miguel's romantic relationship was completly real, it could be from a real-life couple.
Another aspect that I enjoyed a lot were the judment ones; I've been indignated, I've been glad, and in conclussion it made me feel.

Full review in my blog (It's written in Spanish):

Review: Philadelphia

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RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL

Desde la fecha 24/05/20 hasta 29/05/20

Calificación: ★ ★ ★ ★

Calidad de la escritura: 8
Desarrollo de la trama: 9
Personajes: 9
Atmósfera: 8
Disfrute: 9
Lógica: 9.5

(Esta manera de criticar un libro fue originalmente creada por jessie_reads_too_much. Un enlace a su Instagram porque no sé cuál es su nombre de usuario en Goodreads)

Opinión:

Me ha gustado, aunque no es alucinante. Lo recomendaria para una lectura escolar o quien quiera leer sobre discriminación.
De todas formas pienso que las relaciones entre personajes están muy conseguidas, además de que hay un muy buen balance entre trama y personajes. De hecho, la familia de Andrew, incluyendo a Miguel, su novio, me han hecho sentir muy feliz. De esta misma forma, la relación entre Andy y Miguel es completamente certera, perfectamente podría ser la de una pareja en la vida real.
Otro aspecto que he disfrutado mucho han sido las partes del juicio, me he indignado, me he alegrado y en conclusión, he sentido.

Reseña completa en mi blog:

Reseña: Philadelphia

[Andrea Muraro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ti insegnano da bambino che le checche sono anormali, che si vestono con gli abiti della mamma, hanno paura di fare a pugni, sono pericolosi per i bambini e tutto ciò che vogliono è infilarsi nelle tue mutande. E questo riassume ancora in gran parte il pensiero della maggioranza fuori di qui [...]."

È la prima volta che leggo un romanzo tratto dalla sceneggiatura di un film. Se questo è magistrale, il romanzo ne mantiene sicuramente intatta la capacità di emozionare e di parlare di un tema all'epoca scottante e delicatissimo come quello del pregiudizio nei confronti degli affetti da HIV/AIDS.
Andrew Beckett è il prototipo del malato di AIDS che sfida la propria condizione per far esplodere piuttosto il suo desiderio di vivere e di lottare per una società più inclusiva e senza pregiudizi. E il fatto che sia un avvocato la dice lunga: dall'interno del sistema, riesce a comprendere e a dimostrare che la legge, la quale dovrebbe difendere la gente dai soprusi, è invece spesso complice nel mantenere lo status quo. Ma soprattutto mette in luce come l'HIV/AIDS sia stato, sin dalle origini, associato a qualcosa di sbagliato e di sporco. In tutto questo è splendido notare come Davis abbia costruito perfettamente il mondo degli affetti di Andrew, quel mondo che gli è a fianco in ogni suo passo e soprattutto in quelli più delicati. Ne nasce il sentimento che la morte di Andrew non sia tutto sommato la fine della storia, ma l'inizio per tutti loro.
Mi dispiace leggere su Wikipedia che Christopher Davis non abbia più scritto nulla dopo "Philadelphia", perché ha sicuramente dimostrato di possedere le doti del narratore capace di emozionare e, cosa non sempre scontata, di giustapporre le digressioni nel momento esatto in cui servono. La letteratura della sieropositività ha sicuramente perso una voce.

[Dionisio Ramírez Dragó · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Beckett es el joven abogado más prometedor del bufete más renombrado de Filadelfia. Los socios fundadores del despacho confían tanto en él que le encargan el caso más importante que tienen entre manos. En la tramitación del caso achacan a un error de Andrew -que parece imposible debido a su valía y trayectoria en la empresa- que la demanda esté a punto de perderse y deciden prescindir de sus servicios. Andrew está convencido de que alguien le ha achacado ese error para poder echarle, quizá porque se ha descubierto que en su vida privada, es homosexual y además, tiene Sida. Así que se busca un abogado para el caso y decide demandar a su anterior empresa, llevando a la luz de un juicio público los problemas de integración de las personas como él en ese mundo tan elitista.

Curioso libro éste, ya que el autor confiesa al principio que su publicación no es anterior a la película -como suele ser- sino que es posterior, debido al éxito del filme de Demme, y respeta totalmente los elementos que la película presenta, si ningún aporte (excepto en "ver" la película escrita). Supongo que la editorial veía unas ventas bastante considerables (si compraban el libro uno de cada diez a los que les gustara la película, ya casi tendrían un best-seller) y se animaron a ello. Es el primer caso que conozco. Yo me lo encontré en la calle (plaza de Cristo Rey en Madrid) y descubrí, casi al final, porque el bondadoso dueño lo habría dejado allí: faltan varias páginas del final, aunque, eso sí, no las más importantes. De todas maneras ya sabía lo que pasaba, así que no me estropeó mucho. Ha sido agradable "volver" a leer esta gran historia.

[Gualtiero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Beckett, avvocato molto promettente, viene licenziato dal proprio studio quando i soci scoprono che è omosessuale e malato di Aids. Decide quindi di far causa allo studio, facendosi aiutare da un'avvocato di uno studio molto più piccolo in una lotta che ricorda Davide contro Golia.
Questo romanzo non è un legal drama, ma è un trattato contro tutte le discriminazioni. La parte del processo, pur ricoprendo tutta la parte centrale del libro, non è quella più importante. La storia principale è infatti il percorso di Joe Miller, avvocato omofobo, che man mano conosce il suo cliente inizia a mettere da parte tutti i suoi pregiudizi.
Molto bella la storia (mi vergogno di dire che non ho mai visto il film) e argomento discriminazione trattato molto bene. E' molto angosciante ricordare come negli anni '90 l'omosessualità fosse vista ancora peggio di oggi e soprattutto ricordarsi di come l'Aids fosse una malattia ancora sconosciuta che aveva seminato il panico nell'intera popolazione mondiale.
Tuttavia mi sento di dare solo tre stelle perchè si vede che si tratta di un romanzo preso dalla sceneggiatura di un film, quindi la prosa non è eccelsa.
Un libro che merita comunque di essere letto, almeno per chi non ha visto il film.

[Sueda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't seen the movie and I bought the book when I was in Madrid; I found it in a very interesting book shop and I read it in Spanish. It is the first book that I'm reading in Spanish and I enjoyed it very much. The story made me curious and I couldn't wait to read all of it.
It is interesting how nowadays people don't have these problems anymore as people with aids can live a perfectly normal life. This book made me think how lucky we are to have devoted people who have worked hard so that other people with illnesses can live like all the rest. People like Andrew who love their job and do everything to make the best of it.
Another thing that I liked about the book, was the character development of Joe. At the beginning he didn't even want to shake hands with Andrew, while in the end he was seeing him as a colleague, as a friend. Both Joe and Andrew were lucky to have people around them who supported them and made them see the best in every situation.

[Remo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástica novela. Un abogado, estrella en ascenso de su firma, es despedido cuando contrae (desarrolla) el SIDA. La excusa para echarle es atacar su trabajo, por supuesto, su empresa no va a reconocer el verdadero motivo de despido. Nuestro protagonista contrata a un antiguo rival, que tioene bastantes prejuicios contra el SIDA y los homosexuales, en la demanda contra su empresa.
La novela es un retrato de una sociedad, una historia de amor, una historia de amistad, un camino del héroe... Tiene un montón de historias muy valiosas, que se entrelazan para gritar, sin decirlo, una denuncia desesperada. Me encantó la novela y me encantó mñás tarde la película, que sigue fielmente a la novela.