“An extraordinary novel” about growing up gay in the 1950s American Midwest (The New York Times Book Review).
Critically lauded upon its initial publication in 1982 for its pioneering depiction of homosexuality, A Boy’s Own Story is a moving tale about coming-of-age in midcentury America.
With searing clarity and unabashed wit, Edmund White’s unnamed protagonist yearns for what he knows to be shameful. He navigates an uneasy relationship with his father, confounds first loves, and faces disdain from his peers at school. In the embrace of another, he discovers the sincere and clumsy pleasures of adolescent sexuality. But for boys in the 1950s, these desires were unthinkable. Looking back on his experiences, the narrator notes, “I see now that what I wanted was to be loved by men and to love them back but not to be a homosexual.”
From a winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, this trailblazing autobiographical story of one boy’s youth is a moving, tender, and heartbreaking portrait of what it means to grow up.
Critically lauded upon its initial publication in 1982 for its pioneering depiction of homosexuality, A Boy’s Own Story is a moving tale about coming-of-age in midcentury America.
With searing clarity and unabashed wit, Edmund White’s unnamed protagonist yearns for what he knows to be shameful. He navigates an uneasy relationship with his father, confounds first loves, and faces disdain from his peers at school. In the embrace of another, he discovers the sincere and clumsy pleasures of adolescent sexuality. But for boys in the 1950s, these desires were unthinkable. Looking back on his experiences, the narrator notes, “I see now that what I wanted was to be loved by men and to love them back but not to be a homosexual.”
From a winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, this trailblazing autobiographical story of one boy’s youth is a moving, tender, and heartbreaking portrait of what it means to grow up.
Read more
Collapse
About the author
Edmund White is one of America’s preeminent twentieth-century writers. His fiction, essays, biography, and journalism explore the gay experience in the United States, from the closeted 1950s to the AIDS crisis. His autobiographical novel, A Boy’s Own Story (1982), is a classic coming-of-age tale that cemented his place as a fiction author. White’s works have earned and been shortlisted for numerous honors, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, which he received for the biography Genet in 1993. He is the recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 2019 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; the PEN/Saul Bellow Award; and Publishing Triangle’s Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, and is the namesake of the organization’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. He is a professor of creative writing at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts.
Read more
Collapse
Additional Information
Publisher
Open Road Media
Read more
Collapse
Published on
Dec 23, 2014
Read more
Collapse
Pages
256
Read more
Collapse
ISBN
9781497685918
Read more
Collapse
Language
English
Read more
Collapse
Genres
Fiction / Biographical
Fiction / Coming of Age
Fiction / LGBT / Gay
Read more
Collapse
Content protection
This content is DRM protected.
Read more
Collapse
Read aloud
Available on Android devices
Read more
Collapse
Seller
Google Commerce Ltd
Read more
Collapse
Report
Reading information
Smartphones and Tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and Computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like the Sony eReader or Barnes & Noble Nook, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Please follow the detailed Help center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.