Oliver and Elio arrive in Rome. Elio’s father has arranged for them to stay in a beautiful and luxurious hotel. Oliver and Elio defecate in front of each other, another flirtation with the boundary between intimacy and shame. Elio reflects that “All I knew was that I had nothing left to hide from him. I had never felt freer or safer in my life” (168). They walk the streets of Rome, and Elio points out a street where he felt his first desire for another man. Elio and a stranger met eyes and caught one another checking each other out. The man approached Elio to chat, embraced Elio, and offered to take him to a movie theater. Elio rejected the offer, but he notes this incident was formative in allowing him to recognize his desire for Oliver.

Elio and Oliver attend a book launch party hosted by Oliver’s publisher. The launch party is for the same poet Elio and Oliver met in B., Alfredo. The poet’s daughters, two beautiful women who are buddies with Oliver, recognize Elio because Oliver told them about him. Elio enjoys the book party and the lively social

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