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A Boy's Own Story
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780375707407
Edition: 1st Vintage international ed
ISBN: 0375707409
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: May 30, 2000
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: May 30, 2000
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
An instant classic upon its original publication, A Boy's Own Story is the first of Edmund White's highly acclaimed trilogy of autobiographical novels that brilliantly evoke a young man's coming of age and document American gay life through the last forty years. The nameless narrator in this deeply affecting work reminisces about growing up in the 1950s with emotionally aloof, divorced parents, an unrelenting sister, and the schoolmates who taunt him. He finds consolation in literature and his fantastic imagination. Eager to cultivate intimate, enduring friendships, he becomes aware of his yearning to be loved by men, and struggles with the guilt and shame of accepting who he is. Written with lyrical delicacy and extraordinary power, A Boy's Own Story is a triumph.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Lots of washing, less to hang out
A reviewer of A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White is presented with a number of problems, In the paraphrased words of one of the book's characters, there may be a lot in the wash, but eventually not much to hang out, and this, by the end of the book, largely summed up what it had delivered. Be reassured, however, that the process of reading A Boy's Own Story is a delight from start to finish. Edmund White's style is quite beautiful, full of complex allusions, superb characterisation and, above all, ... Read More
Rating:  - So beautiful and so important
We have been partners/lovers for 14 years, and we found this book to be so important for young gay men everywhere. It was our story. White's new autobiography is also seminal reading. Thank you, Edmund!
Rating: - A touchstone for millions of young gay men
This novel has been read by millions and is worth your time if you are young and gay. I read it many years ago, and remember little, other than it was an enjoyable and enlightening experience, that helped me realize I was not alone.
As to whether Baldwin's book, "Giovanni's Room," is better, I don't know. I tried Baldwin, but it seems he never got over being black. It was difficult for me to relate to him--not saying others can't. I am not going to apologize, like a dumba**, for prefering ... Read More
Rating: - Eloquent, Elegant, Incisive, Provocative
What exquisite and marvelous prose! White has mastered the English language in an artful, florid, and elegant manner exceeding the great Nabokov himself. This novel, my first, but by no means last, to read, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about an upper-crust, well-educated, youth in the years of his gay discovery. Common to many a gay youth, a distant, unapproving father, a surrogate, unengaged step-mother, and a self-absorbed, fickle mother are found emotionally wanting. Coming of age ... Read More
Rating:  - A Boy's Somewhat Tedious Story
Yeah, I'm aware of all of the comparisons to J. D. Salinger and Oscar Wilde but this book doesn't get me to put author Edmund White in those leagues. Sure, the writing is high-falutin' - "ectoplasmic", "extravagant mendicancy", "colloidal" - but that doesn't necessarily make for a better story. One creative approach is that the narrator is never named. Whoever he is is a deeply disturbed individual who, at fifteen, seems to have more baggage than a fully-loaded 747. The scenes with the shrink he finally ... Read More
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