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White, Edmund : My Lives: An Autobiography

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, England, 2006

ISBN 0747575223

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 360 pages. The author's debut memoir. One of Edmund White's crowning achievements as the leading gay American writer of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the American Edition. There are more archival photographs that are included, many of which inexplicably do not appear in the American Edition, and as such, the British is superior to the American Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Edmund White's "My Lives". Indisputably, the best account of gay life since Tennessee Williams' "Memoirs". Following its cue from the title, White's account candidly remembers his tumultuous, eventful, and fascinating life in ten thematic chapters: "My Shrinks", "My Father", "My Mother", "My Hustlers", "My Women", "My Europe", "My Master", "My Blonds", "My Genet", and "My Friends". They correspond more or less chronologically to his story of growing up handsome, gay, and enormously talented. Writing comes naturally and effortlessly to Edmund White, and this has proved to be his best weapon against his detractors, the "assimilationist", neo-Fascist gay writers like Andrew Sullivan and Bruce Bawer, who regard White's unapologetic bohemianism as a throwback to the past. White is indeed loyal to the idea of The Past partly because there isn't a whole lot in The Present that he finds hopeful or encouraging: How is it possible that so many gays (like Sullivan and Bawer) are or have been among the most rabid right-wingers (at least at the time of his writing his book; to be fair, Sullivan is a repentant and often eloquent former right-winger) and that they have internalized their oppression by identifying with their oppressors? He is a nihilist not by choice or even temperament but by default. His autobiography is characterized by a genuine humility and candor that are rare among celebrity-writers. Sexually explicit (there is a "sex scene" on nearly every other page), his account does not come across as lurid, self-indulgent, or obscene at all because of the sheer beauty of his prose, and he drops ideas as lightly as eggs in a basket. "Now that I'm sixty-five, I think this is a good moment to write a memoir. Sixty-five is the right time for casting a backward glance, while one is still fully engaged in one's life" (Edmund White). An absolute "must-have" title for Edmund White collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the American Edition. There are more archival photographs that are included, many of which inexplicably do not appear in the American Edition, and as such, the British is superior to the American Edition. Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0747575223.

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