My Lives: An Autobiography
by Edmund White
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edmund WhiteEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-11
ISBN: 0066213975
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Ecco
Book Reviews of My Lives: An Autobiography
Book Review: The Real Thing
Summary: 5 Stars
For over thirty years, Edmund White has written some of the most insightful fiction and non-fiction about American life. He's successfully blended autobiography and the novel to capture the startling ideological and political changes of the country. The scope of his books range from a time when homosexuality was branded a psychological disease to recent strong campaigns to legalize gay marriage. The vivid experiences he's written about are artistically shaped to allow the reader to see things from an entirely new perspective while also finding common emotional ground. This memoir allows us access to White's own true experiences for one of the first times. After re-imagining his life so thoroughly in his popular novels A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room is Empty, The Farewell Symphony and The Married Man, one would assume there would be nothing left to tell. But, in fact, White has led such a rich and varied life that there are numerous important moments and ideas which haven't yet been committed to paper. My Lives allows us intimate access to the real man while still providing thoughtful commentary on affairs beyond his own experience.
Rather than write a straightforward account of his life, White has organized his memoir in sections about particular aspects of his experience such as My Shrinks, My Hustlers, My Friends, etc. At times in this book his pithy summation of a period of American life can be startlingly insightful: "In the 1950s people had been ashamed to admit they were inadequate; in the 1960s they became proud to announce they were victims." In other parts, the intimate details he reveals about his life are so shocking that White humorously guesses at some people's reactions: "'Must we have every detail about these tiresome senile shenanigans?'" However, White's probing exploration of his past has much more value beyond mere gossip. He explores the mechanics and mysteries of desire better than any other writer. The memoir also uses individual experience as an analysis of the larger society by putting historical frameworks around sections of his life.
This book is not the great elder artist, purveyor of gay literature and international lover boasting. Rather, he reveals that he is still a fragile and tender individual who is prone to despair, hopeless infatuation and self-doubt. Bravely and with his usual beautifully crafted prose, the author proves that there is still so much more to tell. This book is a treasure filled with sumptuous and enlightening details and is essential reading for any fan of White's fiction.
Summary of My Lives: An Autobiography
No one has ever been more frank, lucid, rueful and entertaining about growing up gay in Middle America than Edmund White. Best known for his autobiographical novels, White takes the fiction out of his story and delivers the facts in all their shocking and absorbing verity. From an adolescence in the 1950s, an era that tried to 'cure' homosexuality, he emerged into a 1960s society which re-designated his orientation as 'acceptable (nearly)'. He describes a life touched by psychotherapy in every decade, starting with his flamboyant therapist mother who demanded that he be her own personal test case. In "My Lives", White also shares his enthusiasm for England, his passion for Paris, and introduces us to his friends and lovers, past and present. His striking and eloquent opinions on art and life make this a spectacular read, by turns moving and hilarious, outrageous and enlightening.Authors Books
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