A Boy's Own Story A Novel [Paperback]

The “extraordinary novel” (The New York Times Book Review) about one boy’s coming-of-age during the 1950s—and one of the most groundbreaking portrayals of gay life in American fiction

“The best American narrative of sexual awakening sinceCatcher in the Rye.” —Chicago Sun-Times

Ridiculed by his classmates and beset by aloof parents and a cruel sister, the unnamed narrator of Edmund White’s first autobiographical novel finds solace in literature, works of art, and his own fantastic imagination. But as he strives to forge new friendships, his yearning to be loved by the men in his life evokes a crushing sense of shame and a struggle to accept who he is. Lyrical and poignant,A Boy’s Own Story—the first of a trilogy, followed byThe Beautiful Room Is EmptyandThe Farewell Symphony—is an American literary treasure that became an instant classic upon publication for its pioneering portrayal of homosexuality.By the Winner of the National Book Foundation’s 2019 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

“Every so often a novel comes along that is so ambitious in its intention and so confident of its voice that it reminds us what a singular and potent thing a novel can be. One of these isA Boy’s Own Story.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“WithA Boy’s Own Story, American literature is larger by one classic novel.”
—The Washington Post

“The story Edmund White tells is spellbinding—by turns incisively satiric, goldenly nostalgic, calmly voluptuous, and throbbing. . . . No reader, straight or gay . . can fail to experience shock after shock of recognition in these pages.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“It is any boy’s story. . . . For all I know, it may be any girl’slN