false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171612203m/109718.jpg 109718 7 <p> No one has been more frank, lucid, rueful and entertaining about growing up gay in Middle America than Edmund White. Best known for his autobiographical novels, starting with <i>A Boy's Own Story</i>, White here takes fiction out of his story and delivers the facts of his life in all their shocking and absorbing verity. </p> <p> From an adolescence in the 1950s, an era that tried to "cure his homosexuality" but found him "unsalvageable," he emerged into a 1960s society that redesignated his orientation as "acceptable (nearly)." He describes a life touched by psychotherapy in every decade, starting with his flamboyant and demanding therapist mother, who considered him her own personal test case -- and personal escort to cocktail lounges after her divorce. His father thought that even wearing a wristwatch was effeminate, though custodial visits to Dad in Cincinnati inadvertently initiated White into the culture of "hustlers and johns" that changed his life. </p> <p> In <i>My Lives</i>, White shares his enthusiasms and his passions -- for Paris, for London, for Jean Genet -- and introduces us to his lovers and predilections, past and present. "Now that I'm sixty-five," writes White, "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." </p> 1272801 2005 My Lives: An Autobiography total:92|5:24|4:33|3:20|2:13|1:2| 92 340 150 16 3 2 false false Tue Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 07:50:06 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 07:56:21 -0700 2009 My Lives, Edmund White jokes that the reader must certainly be saying to himself, “TMI! Too much information!” White is, at that point, talking in extravagant detail about his sex life—but then it’s something of a challenge to find a moment in My Lives when he isn’...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 16:48:23 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 16:53:19 -0800 2009
some parts were beautifully written and captivating. i think that white has captured an element regarding gay sexual relationships that no other author has been able to put into words. he's also got great insight into certain other el...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 15 09:24:16 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 09:35:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 02 06:20:14 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 06:20:32 -0700 2008 I picked this up mid-way through White's trilogy of novels and much of the material about his parents and his many psychotherapists (how can anyone resist an autobiography that starts with a chapter entitled, My Shrinks?) was familiar having been very thinly veiled in A Boy's Own Life. Turns ou...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 17:44:51 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 19:43:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 11:12:49 -0800 2009 Tue Jul 21 11:07:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 08 10:22:37 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 10 22:06:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 08:33:53 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 19:08:04 -0700 2007 Witty, worldly and full of sex. Though the sex never really felt pornographic or anything....I think....
But maybe that's the wonderful thing about memoir and looking back: You get a real sense of the love, pain, maturity – and in the end – folks who are flawed, not ne...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 28 02:43:59 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 02:51:16 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Mar 03 10:59:39 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 03 11:10:38 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun May 04 17:10:14 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 17:10:26 -0700 2008 ]]> 2 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 16:49:36 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 16:51:50 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 17:21:27 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 11:09:41 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jun 28 08:55:53 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 08:56:44 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Thu Jul 26 16:52:41 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 16:52:55 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jul 18 12:52:58 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 18 12:52:58 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Thu Nov 19 12:16:38 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 12:16:38 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 17:56:21 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 17:56:21 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Nov 08 02:06:25 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 02:06:25 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 17:02:06 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 17:02:06 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=109718