A Boy's Own Story: A Novel

A Boy's Own Story: A Novel
by Edmund White

A Boy's Own Story: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Edmund White
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-24
ISBN: 0143114840
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of A Boy's Own Story: A Novel

Book Review: Fine Prose, Not My Cup of Tea
Summary: 3 Stars

This is my very personal review of a well-respected book. White is a fine prose stylist. I read the book because it had been acclaimed as a gay rite of passage novel. I found large sections of the book to be dull and boring. The protagonist was a disagreeable brat who came from a privileged family. He was an exploitive user who had a self-absorbed selfish streak. The book's beginning, I think, is fairly interesting because it gives a social picture of an America of a certain era, (a white boy's relationship with black America for instance) and because his sexual encounter with Kevin is so well told.
It's a book about endless desires and craving for sexual fulfillment but not about consummation. The boy seems not to have any real understanding or feelings of love.
I think the book is pretentious. The boy doesn't mind committing acts of betrayal as long as he can satisfy his libido. Edmund White was born in 1940 so he grew up in a closeted time for gays, and the book was published in 1982 when some things for gays were beginning to change ever so slightly.
This book has become a Modern Library classic and perhaps it deserves that designation. I don't believe that the book transcends its gay niche shelving to become a rite of passage book for the American everyboy. (Not that I think any book could really do that.) I think this novel gets too mired in self pity and navel gazing. Harsh criticism for a classic? I calls `em as I react to them.

Summary of A Boy's Own Story: A Novel

Originally published in 1982 as the first of Edmund White's trilogy of autobiographical novels, A Boy's Own Story became an instant classic for its pioneering portrayal of homosexuality. The book's unnamed narrator, growing up during the 1950s, is beset by aloof parents, a cruel sister, and relentless mocking from his peers, compelling him to seek out works of art and literature as solace-and to uncover new relationships in the struggle to embrace his own sexuality. Lyrical and poignant, with powerful evocations of shame and yearning, this is an American literary treasure.

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