Our Young Man
By Edmund White
3.5/5
()
Unavailable in your country
Unavailable in your country
About this ebook
'One of the best writers of my generation' - John Irving
'A playful yet searching novel of gay life in the New York of Ed Koch and Studio 54' - Kirkus
'Smart, worldly, erudite, well-connected, and funny' - New York Review of Books
'Remarkable … America's most significant gay writer' - Literary Review
______________
'Has everyone always been in love with you? Of course they have, who am I kidding? What did they say about Helen of Troy? That her face launched a thousand ships? That's you, you're that beautiful. A thousand ships'
New York City in the eighties, and at its decadent heart is Guy. The darling of Fire Island's gay community and one of New York's top male models, Guy is gliding his way to riches that are a world away from his modest provincial upbringing back home in France. Like some modern-day Dorian Gray he seems untouched by time: the decades pass, fashions change, yet his beauty remains as transcendent and captivating as ever.
Such looks cannot help but bring him adoration. From sweet yet pathetic Fred to the wealthy and masochistic Baron, from the acerbic and cynical Pierre-Georges to Andre, fabricating Dalí fakes and hurtling towards prison and the abyss, all are in some way fixated on him. In return for the devotion and expensive gifts they lavish on him, he plays with unswerving loyalty whatever role they project onto him: unattainable idol, passionate lover, malleable client. But just as the years are catching up on his smooth skin and perfect body, so his way of life is closing in on him and destroying the men he loves.
Edmund White has in Our Young Man created some of the richest representations of gay male identity, from the disco era to the age of AIDs. What links them all is the allure and enchantment they find in beauty. Revelling in its magic, Our Young Man nonetheless slips beneath the seductive surface to examine its dangerous depths, exploring its power to fascinate, enslave and deceive.
Mesmerising, blackly comic, and delicately crafted, this is an exquisite novel from a contemporary master.
Edmund White
Edmund White was born in Cincinnati in 1940. His many novels include the autobiographical trilogy A Boy’s Own Story, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, and The Farewell Symphony; he has published biographies of Jean Genet, Marcel Proust, and Arthur Rimbaud, as well as memoirs, short stories, and criticism; in 1977 he co-authored The Joy of Gay Sex. He is an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lives in New York City.
Read more from Edmund White
Hotel de Dream: A New York Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Young Man Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Humble Lover Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Boy's Own Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Luminous Republic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Saint from Texas Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5New Jersey Noir Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Previous Life: Another Posthumous Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Queer Ideas: The David R. Kessler Lectures from 1992–2001 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiberation: Diaries 1970–1983 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Holmes and His Friend: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arts and Letters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Our Young Man
Related ebooks
Hidden: The Intimate Lives of Gay Men Past and Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlan Hollinghurst: Writing under the influence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlec: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imre: A Memorandum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFull Frontal: To Make a Long Story Short Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bible Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Shot: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atom Heart John Beloved Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters Of Midnight: Erotic Tales Of The Vampire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReady To Catch Him Should He Fall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gay: the tenth anniversary collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Face without a Heart Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rufius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Second Thoughts: More Queer and Weird Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Novels: Hold Tight, Surprising Myself, In Memory of Angel Clare, and Gossip Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNightswimmer: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coming Out Catholic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat We Remember Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Journey Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What's Left of the Night Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Since I Laid My Burden Down: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Brother and his Brother: A gay story about a brotherly love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sparkle: The Queerest Book You'll Ever Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homo Odyssey: Adventures of a World Traveler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gay Detective Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Why We Never Danced the Charleston Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contemporary Gay Romances Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Gay Fiction For You
Coming Out: 14 Erotica Closet Gay Bundle Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misadventures of Doc and Dirk, Volume I Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seduced by My Sister's Boyfriend Part 1: A Gay Taboo Erotica Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kiss Her Once for Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Marvellous Light Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Him: Him, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love in the Big City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magnolia Park: A Comic, Pornographic Novel of Erotic Obsession and Other Horrors in the Deep South Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5White Trash Warlock Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pomegranate: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reality of Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Us: Him, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Impossible Beauties: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young Mungo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Violent Delights: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lie With Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zombie: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Faggots Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orlando: A Biography Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Silver in the Wood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exquisite Corpse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are Water: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slammerkin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Persian Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jonny Appleseed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dawnhounds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maurice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Wall: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Our Young Man
16 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5An aimless tale -- written mostly like a stream of consciousness.