The passing of Edmund White, author and memoirist, this month at the age of 85 signalled the loss of one of the greatest queer writers in American letters. A pioneering figure in gay fiction, White was described by The New York Times as the "first major queer novelist to champion a new generation of writers."
Over the course of 50 years, White helped to revolutionize queer representation in fiction and nonfiction alike, developing a contemporary form of LGBTQ+ literature that inspired countless writers to this day. Born in Cincinnati in 1940 and raised outside Chicago, White initially tried to "cure" his homosexuality through conversion therapy before moving to New York and finding solace among the city's burgeoning gay communities. His debut novel, Forgetting Elena, was heralded by Vladimir Nabokov but it was his nonfiction debut, The Joy of Gay Sex, that made him a star.
White's work was frequently autobiographical (or at least heavily inspired by his own life), proudly gay, and extremely sex positive. It was a sharp contrast to contemporary media's demonizing portrayals of the queer community, particularly during the AIDS crisis. White himself was HIV-positive but fought the odds to live for decades after his diagnosis. He continued working in various mediums and received a slew of awards—including the National Book Critics Circle Award, several Lambda Literary Awards, and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
Without White, we wouldn’t have writers like Garth Greenwell or Alexander Chee. The very face of queer writing does not exist if White is not at its center. The legacy he leaves behind is a mighty one, and his work stands the test of time for a reason. In the face of abject bigotry and marginalization, he wrote stories that were proud and unashamed, even when the world told him he should stay in the shadows. He is survived by his husband, the writer Michael Carroll.
A Boy's Own Story
While technically fiction, 1982's A Boy's Own Story was heavily inspired by White's own experiences as a young gay boy growing up in the Midwest. The unnamed protagonist is an adolescent who discovers his burgeoning sexuality and tries to fight against it. The hero knows he is attracted to other boys but tries to dismiss it as a passing phase or something he can cure himself of. But over a long summer while visiting his father, he is drawn to sexual experiences and unrequited crushes that force him to confront some uncomfortable truths about himself. A Boy's Own Story was described in The Guardian as "a touchstone gay novel."
Hotel de Dream: A New York Novel
Stephen Crane, an American writer of worldwide renown, finds himself in England wasting away from tuberculosis. Accompanying him is his wife Clara, a former bordello owner who seems to attract scandal wherever she goes. As he lies on what will surely be his deathbed, Crane begins dictating his final and greatest work: a story of a boy prostitute and the married man who enthrals him, to the backdrop of turn-of-the-century New York City.
The Beautiful Room Is Empty: A Novel
The follow-up to A Boy's Own Story sees the narrator growing up and getting ready for college. The 1950s and '60s bring immense change. Our protagonist is a scholarly teen who still yearns for the company of men, even as it haunts him to have such desires. College offers with it some freedoms but it's not until he moves east to New York and finds his way to the Stonewall Tavern on the night of the first gay uprising that he finds a way to both come out and come of age.
Terre Haute
White only wrote one play, a 2007 piece that premiered to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006. Inspired by true events involving author Gore Vidal and the 1995 Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Terre Haute dramatizes a meeting between a legendary author and a terrorist who is days away from being executed. As the clock ticks on Death Row, the writer needs to finish his story, even though he knows there's only one possible ending. But what will happen if he finds himself bonding with an abject monster?
The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir
Delightfully subtitled "A Sex Memoir", White's final book is yet another reminder of his candor and wit. At the age of 85, White decided to write a memoir of his sexual escapades and how eroticism defined his life for decades. From his time with fellow closeted boys in the 1950s to sex during the AIDS era to his experiences in his twilight years, White lets the reader know everything they could possibly want to know about sex, submission, open relationships, and more. It's a unique and indelibly White-esque portrait of American queer history.
