false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171612234m/109726.jpg 109726 7 When the narrator of White's poised yet scalding autobiographical novel first embarks on his sexual odyssey, it is the 1950s, and America is "a big gray country of families on drowsy holiday." That country has no room for a scholarly teenager with guilty but insatiable stirrings toward other men. Moving from a Midwestern college to the Stonewall Tavern on the night of the first gay uprising--and populated by eloquent queens, butch poseurs, and a fearfully incompetent shrink--<b>The Beautiful Room is Empty</b> conflates the acts of coming out and coming of age.<br><br>"With intelligence, candor, humor--and anger--White explores the most insidious aspects of oppression.... An impressive novel."--<i>Washington Post book World</i> 1107584 1988 The Beautiful Room Is Empty total:270|5:83|4:92|3:68|2:22|1:5| 270 1036 450 27 4 0 false false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:19:51 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:39:32 -0700 2009 This novel, although I suppose it is usually categorized under gay fiction, is an excellent coming of age novel that picks at the conservative Midwestern society of the late 50s and ends up describing both the promises and failures of New York City in the early to mid 60s. If I had discovered...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 14:04:41 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 18:23:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Sep 05 20:39:21 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 20:39:21 -0700 2008
That’s sort of the effect...more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 15 10:34:11 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 10:00:01 -0800 2007 The Farewell Symphony...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 14:25:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 14:26:39 -0700 2007 Not a novel.
Great title.*

Considering I can find only half a dozen works by him, I do wonder why he is so famous. Like other autobiographies, eg. Fry's, the author is rather unlikeable. As with other books I read recently, I have no more ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 14:54:43 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 15:02:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 19:52:36 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 20:03:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 09:28:34 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 14:22:47 -0800 2009 This Side of Paradise but in a completely unflinching, totally unapologetic kind of way.

The resolution the narrator comes to about his sexuality seems like a journey we've read about before, but the build up to get there is a revelation.
]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Fri Sep 26 23:21:43 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 23:21:43 -0700 2008
I remember a newspaper review that said the title ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 14:32:02 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 14:55:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Oct 06 19:39:35 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 20:40:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 16 13:35:04 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 13:38:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Mar 15 06:09:05 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 06:09:57 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Feb 10 20:40:01 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 20:43:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 16:33:22 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 26 15:19:23 -0700 2008 1
It's a coming of age story that integrates perfectly how one is made to feel like an adolescent when any new challenge of being an adult comes along... be it career, self-realizations, or sexuality.]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Sep 27 18:38:25 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 27 20:18:06 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sun Sep 02 07:38:35 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 02 07:45:30 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Sep 14 19:17:37 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 14 19:17:37 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Fri Sep 14 12:21:58 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 14 12:23:27 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1987 Mon Mar 10 22:22:26 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 22:23:43 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=109726