A Boy's Own Story

Edmund White's brand of prose is top-shelf. From page one of this novel, his first loosely autobiographical piece about growing up gay, I was bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by him once again. I have now read his first-person narrative trilogy in full, though out of sequence, and each book is captivating. While this, his early adolescence, is not as sexually charged as the others, it is still replete with the same auto-erotica that emanates from his fertile imagination in the subsequent pieces of the work as a whole. The protagonist, still unnamed, draws readers into his world of summers at the lake with his well-off family; his first tentative sexual liaisons; his forays into the world of heterosexual 'normalcy', his escape from parochial school to the comforts of an all-boys private academy, and his reluctant quest to discover his homosexual self. Through the pages of this novel, the boy takes diffident steps out of the closet, even in the 1950's, when such actions were decidedly more taboo than in present day, yet White's experience can be understood by all who have come out, whether it were 1955, 1985, or 2002. White takes his narrator, and the reader, through the highs and lows of self doubt and self awareness; through numerous quests for love and acceptance; through the dangers and disappointments of trying to conceal your true nature from the world and yourself, and finally through the daunting labors of disclosure of his homosexual tendencies to others. In the finale, the protagonist arrives, albeit in a disturbing way, at childhood's end, and forges ahead toward adulthood.Ever present are White's frank, revealing takes on being gay. No matter what your age; no matter what the year, White's voice speaks to all. His trilogy of growing up gay in the 50's and 60's and being gay in the 70's, 80's, and beyond is among the finest examples of gay literature I have ever read.

This is one of the first "literary" books I read when I was several years younger than I am now (though I am far from ancient at the age of 18), but the impact it has had on me remains; I approach it, perhaps, with a little more maturity and insight now than I could have them. I was recently elated to note the publication of the 20th anniversary edition by Modern Library; while White has long been adored by the literary community (with praise from the likes of Joyce Carol Oates, Gore Vidal, and Michael Ondaatje just to name three), the Modern Library edition might make him more generally read by the "mainstream" literary reader--a term which strikes me as odd, but I am sad to report the adjective is a necessary distinction that must be made in describing many in the United States. This book is daring, unapologetic, and very well crafted. I now feel compelled to defend A Boy's Own Story from a particularly misguided criticism I've seen made by another reviewer. The narrator has been attacked for his perceived "selfishness" by someone who not only missed the sociological significance of the character and his place in the novel and the 1950s, but also the fact that in great literature, characters are not bound to stereotypical renderings and predictable personalities. There are reasons important to the tone and theme of the novel for the character's personality; White is also basing his narrator on an amalgamation of his own life and the lives and experiences of others he has talked to about their coming-of-age and coming out. This is one of the finest pieces of contemporary fiction by one of its finest practitioners.

Edmund White is one of America's finest writers. From his early forays into a then edgey genre of stories that happen to include in depth studies of gay men and their questionable place in the public fabric to his current biographies of famous writers (Proust, et al) to his assessment in literary form of the AIDS crisis and it effect on life in all of America, White has become ever more erudite, polished in technique, and fascinating to explore. Because of this current prominence among gifted writers it is rewarding to return to the early works and see if they contained all the seeds of his success. Having just re-read "A Boy's Own Story" I am even more deeply moved and impressed with White than I remembered. This treasureable book is not just a Pink Triangle groupie read. This is wondrously beautiful writing by all standards. White knows how to make the English linguage sing with acute observations that begin with a keen delineation of line but then blossom fully into metaphors than can only be called poems. These descriptions apply not only to walks in nature or observed qualities of light at varying times of day, but they are used to define his characters in such a vivid manner that they literally step off the page, indelibly.And the story.....this tale of the grappling of a youth over questions not only of sexuality but of coming of age in social, religious, educational, dream vs reality strikes chords in all of us. His unnamed narrator is in a way the Everyman of Youth. White does not go for the happy Hollywood ending: he writes about the truths of decisions gone awry, dreams dismemebered, realites coming into being. I would hope that "A Boy's Own Story" would be part of the required reading list for the liberal arts schools who care about not only quality of literature but also of complexity of becoming an adult.

This story is a very beautifully told literary classic. The intimate proximatey of such a well developed character is truly amazing. White tells a wonderful sotry of a gay boy growing up in the 50's--though he never truly accepts it; not until the second book of the series, anyhow. Warnings: Many people reviewed this book negatively and I wish to use this space to share who will NOT enjoy this book. First of all, you must enjoy the "literary" style of writing; if you don't enjoy classics and works by the likes of John Irving than this is not for you. A fine example is to compare it to J.D. Salenger's "Catcher in the Rye"--if you read this in your schooling years and hated it, you'll probably hate this also. If you like a solid and clear course of plot you may not enjoy it; this book is written much like life is lived, and that is with a degree of chaos. Also, if you are homophonic, this book is obviously not for you unless you are attempting to open your mind. Finally, if you are the type of person who is offended by the unappologetic beliefs of the 50's that homosexuality is an illness, etc., then you may not want to read this; this was an issue with me, but I came to understand that this would be the thought process of someone in the narrators posision at his age and time. I loved this book, and hope that other readers will expierience the same amazement as I did.

Edmund White long ago established himself as a premier voice in gay America. "A Boy's Own Story" is a literary masterpiece both moving and disturbing. Many readers make the mistake of calling it "autobiographical", forgetting it is a work of fiction LOOSELY autobiographical. I can't imagine being gay and not having read this book. Yes, the ending is disturbing, and this makes it all the more powerful. "A Boy's Own Story" is so moving a reader threw it across the room upon reading the ending, vowing never to read Edmund White again. This alone should cause you to click on "add to shopping cart."