A Boy's Own StoryThe "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 since Catcher 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 by The Beautiful Room Is Empty and The Farewell Symphony--is an American literary treasure that became an instant classic upon publication for its pioneering portrayal of homosexuality. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 20
Page 28
... wait in a tense , century - long silence . Kevin had made me very happy - a gleeful , spiteful happiness . Here we were , right under the noses of these boring old grown - ups , and we were two guys holding hands . Maybe I wouldn't have ...
... wait in a tense , century - long silence . Kevin had made me very happy - a gleeful , spiteful happiness . Here we were , right under the noses of these boring old grown - ups , and we were two guys holding hands . Maybe I wouldn't have ...
Page 40
... wait too long . I'd waited so long I was almost angry , cer- tainly vengeful . My father's house was a somber place . The styleless pol- ished furniture was piled high and the pantry supplies were laid in ; in the fullness of breakfront ...
... wait too long . I'd waited so long I was almost angry , cer- tainly vengeful . My father's house was a somber place . The styleless pol- ished furniture was piled high and the pantry supplies were laid in ; in the fullness of breakfront ...
Page 99
... wait till reveille ? Or should I wake our captain up now ? I walked and walked and watched the night sky phos- phoresce like plankton in the August sea . Gold would glim- mer at the horizon and then feed its way up through delicate ...
... wait till reveille ? Or should I wake our captain up now ? I walked and walked and watched the night sky phos- phoresce like plankton in the August sea . Gold would glim- mer at the horizon and then feed its way up through delicate ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Addressograph afternoon asked beauty beside blond blue body BOY'S OWN STORY breath Brooks Brothers Chuck cold Cork Cottage Cheese crew cut dark DeQuincey door Edmund White Eton everything eyes face Father Burke fear feel felt floor girl glass goose bumps gray guys hair hand he'd head Helen Paper homosexual hour iconostasis Juliette Greco Kevin kids kiss knees knew laugh legs light lips listen lived looked marijuana mother never night nocturnal emission O'Reilly ofay once pale penis play Pouchet psychoanalysis pulled Rachel Scotts seemed sexual shirt shoulders shouted silence sister sloppy seconds smell smile smoke someone sort sound stepmother talk tell thing thought told Tommy took turned Vaseline voice wait walked wanted watched who'd window woman wonderful Yeah young