Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

More treats from Edmund White
I read novels related to the gay male experience pretty voraciously.I think Edmund White is my single favorite writer.His prose is so perfectly executed that the books fly by too quickly.

He really made me laugh with this novella (the other stories are nice, but not quite the same).I share many of his foibles and obsessions, although what he considers economic stress would feel stable to me.

The clearly autobiographically-based writing continues in this novella, and he's very funny in this one about failing memories and repeating elements of stories, more or less shrugging them off.

His writing is like good ballet - only through his years of reading and study of the art of literary writing can he make it look so easy.I almost wish it were harder to read and I'm tempted to reread all his autobiographical "fiction" just for the pleasure.I would argue he is one of our relatively few real "men of letters."

The Pleasures of His Company
Edmund White remains one of the reigning masters of committing the English language into models of communication in his intelligent, witty, wise, and compassionate novels.While some critics and admirers tend to place CHAOS: A NOVELLA AND STORIES in a lesser important ring of his work, for this reader this book works on every level.Yes, some of the ideas on which the stories are based have been the nidus for other of his more famous works, the current work (especially CHAOS) has polished the atmosphere of the plight of the aging gay man to a jewel-like presence.Reading Edmund White is as much a pleasure of the joy of reading superb prose, as it is an entry into the fascinating lives of his created characters.

In 'Chaos' we meet Jack, a man whose once successful life as a writer afforded him the luxuries of satisfying his physical needs at will.Now, his career careening down toward desperation, Jack finds his gratification in hiring men for sex. His 'employees' include a strangely assembled ex-Mormon lad named Seth and an Italian club dancer Giuseppe, both of whom, while fond of Jack's kindness and patronage, always demand cash on the line, no matter the frequency of their daily episodes with Jack. Jack's cultural needs are played out in fascinating asides, moments when the intellect must emerge and steal the podium from sensuality.And it is precisely in these moments that White exercises his facility with the language. 'Both statements were more or less true, but these half-shades became startlingly emphatic colors only because it was easier to write declarations than nuances - and sentences, once awakened on the page, began to rattle and writhe in their own direction, dangerous and hissing and no longer submissive to meaning'.

Each of the four stories carry the theme of aging, of recollection, of longing for the unattainable made out of grasp because of the erosion of time. 'Time was speeding up just as it was running out, like the last of the water draining form the sink'. But the manner in which Edmund White carves these tales is not one of desperation, of nihilism.His characters retain the sensual longing yet the inherent dignity of the Marschallin of 'Der Rosenkavalier'.And the stories are just about that operatic. Reading Edmund White is a feast, beautifully prepared.Grady Harp, October 07

A masterful look at life
Though the title work is a little long, this is a wonderful collection of stories from a writer in his prime. White parades a succession of head-turning hunks before us, but it his aging protagonists and lonely midwest aesthete who have us turning the page.

Always interesting, sometimes titillating, and ultimately satisfying.
I've been a fan of Edmund White ever since States of Desire which I received as a gift at a surprise birthday party when I was much younger and starting to come out.As is sometimes the case, Chaos is not an easy read, not only because of Edmund White's superior command of language, but also because he captures the truth of middle-aged gay men of my generation so well.I found myself wondering how much of what I was reading was reflective of the author and those he has known in his life and how much was from his imagination.Regardless, the book felt honest and accurate, even though fiction.

When Life Implodes
White, Edmund. "Chaos: A Novella and Stories", Carroll and Graf, 2007.



When Life Implodes



Amos Lassen and Literary Pride



Edmund White is one of the deans of gay literature as well as a highly respected author in his own right. He is the author of over 20 books and has won numerous awards. Three of his novels are autobiographical and in his new book "Chaos" A Novella and Stories", he takes a look at what happens when gay men age.

Before he wrote "Chaos", White published "My Lives: An Autobiography" and it and the new book cover roughly the same material.

In the novella "Chaos", we meet Jack, a 66 year old university faulty member whose claim to fame is the blurbs that he writes for other's books. He worries a great deal about sex and money. And like other older gay men, he lusts after those who are younger than himself. He is not above paying for sexual favors and spends a lot of time cruising "Craig's List". When he meets Seth, a young blonde Mormon, he is quick to take out his wallet and pay him every time they have sex. In fact even when they become friends, Jack continues to pay. But Seth is only the first of many. What Jack wants in his life is culture as well as good food and men, men, men. But we also learn that Jack is not just a sexual animal, he is also a good friend--we learn this when we read of how he reacts when he learns that a good female friend is diagnosed with cancer.

One of the stories "Give It Up for Billy", looks at aging from a different aspect as does "A Good Sport". Aging has always been an important idea in gay culture and White looks at it deeply and personally. White, as usual, is iconoclastic ad he writes about maturity in much the same way he wrote about youth. White looks at growing older not as a bane but rather as a fact of life--it happens to all of us and it is something we must accept. There is a certain guilt felt as one grows more mature and this is evident in White.

I found it hard to sympathize with White's characters. I am a middle aged gay man and I am not lonely nor do I wallow in self pity or escape through opium or by paying prostitutes. However, the beauty of White's language males the plots of his stories seem unimportant.

All in all, this is a satisfying read and unfortunately it is very true. I have read some really bad reviews and I think this is because facing maturity is ever a pretty thought. Yet the world is not always pretty and Edmund White succeeds in telling a story that is not pretty in the most beautiful of ways.

... Read more

Product Description
Combining glittering wit, an atmosphere dense in social paranoia, and a breathtaking elegance and precision of language, White's first novel suggests a hilarious apotheosis of the comedy of manners. For, on the privileged island community where Forgetting Elena takes place, manners are everything. Or so it seems to White's excruciatingly self-conscious young narrator who desperately wants to be accepted in this world where everything from one's bathroom habits to the composition of "spontaneous" poetry is subject to rigid conventions.


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Pretentious Tripe
Despite its numerous accolades I found this book a most tedious slog. It may be the longest 184 pages I've ever forced myself through.It consists of nearly endless descriptive passages of unappealing characters on an incredibly thin and most unsatisfying narrative frame.I found it to be an exercise in florid and fatuous pretension - a complete waste of time.

enigmatic tale works on several levels
This is a classic novel, and one that works on several levels.A satire of Fire Island gay culture?Yes, but it works even if you have no idea that this is what the book is supposed to be "about," as I didn'twhen I first read it years ago.The prose is seamlessly perfect, and thedevice of the amnesiac narrator, which shouldn't work, actually does.

Forgetting Elena
This is not an easy book. It is striking and memorable. If you read it more for the immediate effect of the imagery rather than try to figure out a plot or the characters, it is much more rewarding. I'm not knowledgeableabout the model of Fire Island society but that is secondary anyway. If youare looking for a real page-turner, this book is not for you. If you readslowly and visualize what the author describes, you will be amplyrewarded.This book may be about life on a beach but it is not a "beachbook."

A perfect work
A vanished gay culture and setting (recognizably The Pines in the 1960s) transformed into an icy fantasy, with details borrowed from the ceremonial court life of ancient Japan and Java.An amnesiac narrator finds himselfin an imaginary island society, at once funny and horrific, where refined,ever-changing rules govern the slightest action.He must somehow deducehis own identity from the enigmatic offhand remarks of others around himwhile not giving himself away.

Though infused with a gay sensibility,this is not a "gay book".In it, obsessive aestheticism andobsessive love face each other, gradually becoming deadly enemies.

Overrated florid monstrosity
Two readings straight through, back to back, and I still couldn't figure out what anyone sees in this overwrought piffle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The books that get lost along the way
I don't doubt that when this book was released, it garnered a fairly large readership. It's the story of the first director of the Secret Service who protect our President. Starling served through five presidents, from Wilson to Franklin Roosevelt. Actually there are no bloody rescues and Starling doesn't step in front of assorted bullets aimed at a president. But the narrative is interesting and he gives very frank, sometimes surprising observations of the various Commanders in chief. The book is worth reading, if only for that reason. But Starling himself is an interesting individual and you can't help admiring his constant quest for excellence.

See the Presidents behinds the scenes
"This is a delightful book about a Secret Service man who served from Wilson through FDR. He puts a human face on all the Presidents. You see through Starlings' eyes the Presidents as they were in private. You get to see their families and their activities. This book puts a very human face on some Presidents one never gets to see as very human such as Calvin Coolidge. There are several great chapters on Coolidge and you will at times laugh out loud at Coolidge's antics. At times you will be surprised to see the inner Coolidge come out. Starling and Coolidge were fond of each other and their practical jokes played on each other are fun to read about. A excellent book if you want to see the Presidents as they truly were as ppl.

See the Presidents behinds the scenes
"This is a delightful book about a Secret Service man who served from Wilson through FDR. He puts a human face on all the Presidents. You see through Starlings' eyes the Presidents as they were in private. You get to see their families and their activities. This book puts a very human face on some Presidents one never gets to see as very human such as Calvin Coolidge. There are several great chapters on Coolidge and you will at times laugh out loud at Coolidge's antics. At times you will be surprised to see the inner Coolidge come out. Starling and Coolidge were fond of each other and their practical jokes played on each other are fun to read about. A excellent book if you want to see the Presidents as they truly were as ppl.

See the Presidents behind the scenes
"This is a delightful book about a Secret Service man who served from Wilson through FDR. He puts a human face on all the Presidents. You see through Starlings' eyes the Presidents as they were in private.You get to see their families and their activities. This book puts a very human face on some Presidents one never gets to see as very human such as Calvin Coolidge. There are several great chapters on Coolidge and you will at times laugh out loud at Coolidge's antics. At times you will be surprised to see the inner Coolidge come out.Starling and Coolidge were fond of each other and their practical jokes played on each other are fun to read about. A excellent book if you want to see the Presidents as they truly were as ppl.

nice to also see this in paperback (decades later!!)
I somewhat recommend this dated and dry book from the SAIC of the White House Detail during the early part of the 20th Century, Col. Edmund W. Starling. That said, it is also nice to see the very old hardcover in paperback....albeit decades later!!
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 40 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA
... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the most acclaimed gay novelist of his generation--fully authorized by Edmund White himself.

Edmund White: The Burning World is the first biography of the novelist whose personal life reflects the course of gay history in America in the last half of the twentieth century.

Born in Cincinnati in 1940 and raised in Evanston, White arrived in New York City in 1962, tortured by the knowledge of his homosexuality.Working by day as a staff writer for Time-Life, he secretly cruised the West Village past nightfall.To appreciate White's life is to understand the formative years of gay liberation, for White--who was a participant at the original Stonewall event--experienced all of the ecstasy and abandonment that came to characterize this first generation of post-Stonewall gay men.

Yet while many gay men of his era took to politics, White himself chose to record the extraordinary social and sexual revolution of which he was a prime participant through literature and novels.Whether writing about Fire Island in Forgetting Elena or about gay social revolution in America in States of Desire, White capture the energy and the emotions of an underground culture which had finally thrown off the shackles of its repression.And in A Boy's Own Summer, White helped to define the coming-out novel as a new gay genre.

With complete access to all of White's files and materials, Stephen Barber has created an extraordinary testament to the life of one of America's most respected literary artists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Exceptionally Well-Pitched Critical Biography of White
Edmund White: The Burning World, by Stephen Barber

Edmund White's iconic status within a gay ethos extends far beyond those defined boundaries to his acceptance by the literary world as one of the major writers of our times. White's elegantly stylised novels, each employing a language particular to a time and place, as well as his non-fiction preoccupations as biographer to Genet and Proust, have led to the creation of an integral body of work. White's writings are as individual as they are vital to our reading of mortality in the late 20th century.

Stephen Barber's exceptionally well-pitched critical biography of White is both a work of literary merit and the ideal companion to its subject's life and achievements. Barber has for several years been one of our best critical writers on the nature of the modern city. The Burning World is creative criticism at its best, and Barber's understanding of the city and its sensations as determining creative language is central to his thesis on White's fiction.

During his formative writing years in a 1960's New York, White wrote five unpublished novels before Forgetting Elena was accepted for publication in 1972. Barber interestingly points to Fire Island being the inspirational site to this work, and to White's obsession with islands in general as representing the precinct in which to set a novel. Two more of his books, Nocturnes For The King of Naples, and Caracole, were to be less specifically identified with place, but to occupy undisclosed insular settings.

Barber rightly sees White's first four novels, with their rich textured poetic prose, as 'a unique document of the imagination in its compulsive interaction with the human body.' It was the third of these books, A Boy's Own Story 1982, which won White not only critical acclaim but a confirmed gay readership.

Crucial to Barber in the development of White as a person and writer was his move to Paris in 1983, the city in which he continues to live and write for half of each year. White, who was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1985, for a while considered his death to be imminent. Yet he found Paris sufficiently psychologically regenerative to encourage him to form new relationships, and to write new books. One of these was the elegiac The Beautiful Room Is Empty, a novel in which White first employed the medium of stripped down communicative prose which he continues to use today.

Another legacy of White's Paris years, begun in 1986 and completed seven years later was his monumental 700 page study of the French writer and criminal Jean Genet. Barber is profoundly insightful on White's grand Genet biography, and provides an illuminating commentary on the interactive chemistry triggered by one great writer overhauling the other's complex and elusive life.

Barber sensitively highlights White's most enduring relationships, including the one with Hubert Sorin, whose death from AIDS in 1993 was to leave White devastated. White's ability to keep on endlessly recreating himself, and adapting to the survival measures necessary for a gay man to outlive an AIDS generation, proves the pivot on which Barber's study rests.

This is a book to be recommended, not only to Edmund White's many readers, but to those who care for the valency of a new critical language finding its rapport with a constantly exciting subject.

Jeremy Reed

An excellent companion to the work of a great gay writer
This is a great literary biography. It combines solid research into the life and work of Edmund White, one of the most imaginative and passionate gay writers of the last half century, with the kind of human touches thatbring biography alive. Stephen Barber moves effortlessly from White's lifeto his work and back again, painting a fascinating portrait not only ofWhite's own adventures and career, but providing the reader with profoundinsights into the bigger picture of gay life and culture in America andParis, from Stonewall to AIDS and beyond. The discussion of White's writingstays fresh and relevant to his literary ideals and the context of his life- it makes you want to go back and read his books all over again. The bookis also fairly balanced - it avoids taking sides in the bitter debates thathave raged over what gay male culture and identity should be, and insteadtries to present a range of different perspectives and possibilities.Readable, entertaining, informative and thought-provoking - I highlyrecommend this book.

Informative survey of White's life
My first impression, upon picking up this biography of Edmund White, was that the Stephen Barber's writing is terribly over-wrought -- the introduction of the book, in which Barber tries to explain White'simportance to contemporary literature, is some of the purplest prose I'veread in a long time.

But Barber's writing improves markedly when hebegins telling the story of White's life.The most interesting aspect ofthe book, to me, is Barber's descriptions of White's early fictionalefforts, and his writing habits; you'll read about the novel White wrote inhigh school; you'll learn that White was often drunk or stoned when hewrote his early novels, and that even to this day White generally limitshimself to writing a few pages per day in the expensive blank books hepurchases from a Paris stationer.You'll read about White's encounterswith writers as diverse as Michel Foucault, Vladimir Nabokov (who namedWhite as one of his favorite young novelists, much to White's surprise),and Michael Ondaatje (whose own writing habits are similar to White's). Your impression, gleaned from White's novels, that he is an extremelydecent person who is quite fallible but gifted with an immense talent, willbe confirmed by Barber's account. Also surprising is Barber's descriptionof how sexually voracious White was from a very early age.ApparentlyWhite felt the need to tone down his self-depiction in "A Boy's OwnStory," to make his character seem more representative of typicaladolescents.

In summary, this is a worthy biography of White, once youget past the somewhat amateurish writing style (which is why I'm giving itonly four stars).But you shouldn't order it unless you're very interestedin White -- otherwise, you will learn enough about White from his ownnovels.

A name to the narrator.
I have read the White "Trilogy" of the nameless narrator navigating us through the second half of the American 20th century (A Boy's Own Story, Beautiful Room, and Farewell).White's books peeked mycuriosity and kept me riveted with their metaphors, honesty, and detailedattention to those peculiar specifics that either comply with our selfimage (bringing us to tomorrow) or shatter our ego(enflaming ourinsecurity).We wonder just how close White's actual life is to thenarrator's as we are jealously appalled by his freedom, and tragicallyhopeful about what will happen to him next. This biography, if not asbeautifully weaved and metaphoric as White's own writing, does reconcilethe life of the "I" in his novels, the complexity of the languageand the author (speaking in a Barthesian sense), and White's ownexperiences as we finally align the tragic hero and his real lifecompanions. This book is not a way to be introduced to White, but if youknow him and his writings then it is illuminating and resourceful and apleasure to read with the sheer quanitity of it's detail and thoroughness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Pretentious Bore
I've read, studied, enjoyed and loved DH Lawrence, Jane Austen, Henry James, among others so I'm not illiterate but I was bored to sleep by this novel.Yes, I realize there isn't a plot, or character development, or structure for that matter.It's just a series of musings, ruminations, reflectons, obervances.But many of the metaphors and similes are forced and make no sense.It's must be great fun for the writer to conjure such words and ideas but not for the readers.

A poetic novel about losing your one true love
An American, now living in Europe, creates an homage to his lover that he let slip away.He reviews his life, from childhood and his unstable upbringing to the self-made end of his perfect relationship and on through the aftermath of various lovers in whom all he can see are aspects of his one true love.through poetic use of language and masterful imagery, White has crafted a unique novel about what happens when you shut out the one person who means so much to you.

It's by no means an easy read, and I admit that I had to re-start after 20 pages because I was trying to zip through such a short novel.This novel deserves to be read slowly so that the words and images can make an impact on you, otherwise you will miss something.

It's Summer - Time to Read or Re-Read This Masterpiece!
Put on some cool white linens, open an excellent bottle of red wine and lounge on your chez in the garden, or in your conservatory:This and 4 hours time are the ingredients you need to read or re-read this jewel of a novelette.Seldom has a book so resembled a piece of music, as this does. Clear your mind and let it in - this epic poem - this little night music. I have never stopped thanking Edmund White in my prayers for giving the world this piece of beauty. Enjoy!

Nocturnes for the King of Naples
This book, in order to be fully experienced, should be read very slowly. White is a master of sensual description. You should visualize the images and forget about plot and character.If you let your mind linger over thewords you can experience the novel with all of your senses. The atmosphereis almost tangible. The variations are stunning.I must say that readingthis book after having read 4 other White novels I was prepared. If youjump right in you can easily become lost or disoriented. Maybe that is partof the author's wishes. I read an interview where he commented that unlikethe 19th Century novel where the reader is given a roadmap and a clearview, this book requires the reader to work and make connections. If you dopersevere you will be rewarded with a haunting series of visions that willnot readily be forgotten.

A Beautiful And Haunting Novel
When I asked Ed White what his favorite output was I hoped that he would say "Nocturnes For The King Of Naples."He did.When I asked Ed White what he regretted about his career, he did not mention this book.Itis short and easily readable in a single patient sitting: I read it on aflight from Boston to Salt Lake City that was ten hours from start tofinish.I was mesmerized and I wept as I read: because these words meantso much to my own life,because I thought to myself that I would neverhave the godsend inspiration to produce a novel with so much selfexamination, so much poetry, so much questioning of God.Along with"The Little Prince" it is among my most favorite books.

EdmundWhite writes novels that tell of the world he lives in in New York and inParis, and he has been heralded world wide for his talent.He advocates anunbridled sexuality.We have fought over this point and I love his writingdespite his stance.Despite all his free love manifestos,he wrote a bookthat details that passion he felt for his past, for his past lovers and forhis father.This is it and you wil never find a more engaging, moving taleof the search for love and affection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent issue of this fine journal, devoted to two important American writers
Samuel R. Delany and Edmund White have the following obvious points in common: they are roughly the same age (Delany is 67, White 69), they both lived for many years in New York City (Delany was born there), both have written fiction and nonfiction in a wide variety of genres, styles and forms, and both teach now at major East coast universities located not far from each other (Delany at Temple in Philadelphia, White at Princeton).Both are also out gay men, and homosexuality has informed much of the fiction and nonfiction of each, in particular the significant autobiographical writings that they have published.

There the overt similarities probably end; I say "probably" because I really don't know either writer's ouevre (both are fairly prolific) all that well - White's not at all apart from a couple of pieces in this journal.White strikes me as a more direct and mainstream stylist; Delany is nothing if not difficult, even obtuse.This issue of the terrific thrice-yearly 'Review of Contemporary Fiction' collects 12 pieces by or about the writings of White, and 13 on Delany.I've read White's piece on the Norwegian Nobel-prize winning writer Knut Hamsun, in which he grapples with his love for the work and his disgust with the fascist-sympathizing man behind it; it's short but very powerful, one of the best briefs I've seen on the difficulty of reconciling art and man.The rest of the White stuff I haven't explored, and probably will wait to do so until I've read some of his full-length works.

I have perused most of the Delany section though; for newcomers to his work I'd suggest taking a look at James Sallis' introduction - focusing on Delany's concerns with language - and K. Leslie Steiner's short interview, which discusses the authors views on the relationships between science fiction as genre and literature.Robert Elliott Fox's short meditation on Delany's very very long and dense DHALGREN again explores language for the most part; Mac Laidlaw's funny bit about his years of NOT reading this massive "unreadable" novel is a nice counterpoint.There are short checklists for both White and Delany at the ends of their respective sections.

The volume is rounded out by a couple dozen book reviews, mostly of fiction, much of it interesting and still on my to-read list, including works by Robert Coover and Steven Millhauser, and there is an index to the three issues of 1996.A complete listing of the contents may be found on the website of the publisher, the Dalkey Archive.This is the only issue of TROCF that I actually own, but I'm definitely interested in others - those interested in modernist or postmodern fiction could do much worse than to pick up this volume, and those on such writers as George Perec, Joseph McElroy, and William H. Gass among other relatively obscure writers of difficult - but hopefully lasting - fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
Along with his groundbreaking essays that redefine politics, language, identity, and friendship in the light of gay experience and desire, this magisterial collection of 25 years of White's nonfiction writings includes dazzling subversive appreciations of cultural icons as diverse as Truman Capote and Cormac McCarthy, Robert Mapplethorpe and the singer formerly known as Prince. Reading tour.


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Product Description

In her fifties, Mrs. Frances Trollope became famous overnight for her book attacking the United States. Twenty-five years later, she sharpens her pen for her most controversial work yet -- the biography of her old friend, the radical and feminist Fanny Wright. She recalls the 1820s when the young Fanny erupted into the Trollopes' sleepy English cottage like a volcano, her red hair flying, her talk aflame with utopian ideals. Before long, Wright convinced her to follow her to America, a journey of extreme penury, frontier hardships, and the most satisfying sensual romance of Frances Trollope's life.

Customer Reviews (9)

Why did Edmund White write this?
If you know everything about Fanny Trollope and everything about Fanny Wright, you will love this book. If this is your first introduction to either one, you will read it with the most unbearable sense of puzzlement: why did Edmund White write this?

Essentially it is Fanny (mother of Anthony, the mega-novelist) Trollope's adventures in America, paralleling her book "Domestic Manners of Americans" from the 1830s (which is quite a good book BTW). If you read the modern edition of this Manners book, the introduction fills you in on all the background information that White uses in his book, so that it's sort of a behind-the-scenes version of what Fanny Trollope wrote. But it doesn't add much of anything; in fact, some of the passages are lifted verbatim from the original book.

Why did Edmund White write this? I suppose he felt as though he were in a Gorevidalian mood, and he'd puncture a few canards here and there, but they are very mild, and truth to tell, Mrs. Trollope did them better. I have much enjoyed his previous writings, but this and "Caracole" are among the most dazzlingly written, incomprehensible twaddle I have read in years. To more or less quote Dorothy Parker, "this is not a book to be tossed aside lightly: it is a book to be hurled violently across the room."

Extraordinary Writing and Subject
Mary Whipple writes a great synopsis, so I won't repeat it. There's no question that Edmund White is one of the great living authors, whose flair for language is extraordinary (a dictionary by the side will help immensely). His frequent use of French is a major annoyance for those of us not schooled in that language. The first half of the novel is simply ponderous and excessively overwritten. But the book picks up steam by the second half and rewards the patient reader. The whole contrivance of the project is encyclopeadic, amassing fiction, history, travel, ideology, character development, etc. to great effect. If one is still enthralled with socialism after reading this book, the reader has missed a central point. But one can't help appreciate these two different pioneers of feminism. The exploration of the wide expanse of the American frontier -- both its vitality and extraordinary lack of "culture" -- is mesmerizing. The amours are not as developed as befits the rest of the narrative, and I felt cheated. These are unique loves, and they deserve more than passing attention. But there is no denying this is an artful work by a master writer. A masterful concoction, great writing, but alas a mediocre read.

Nifty similes but not very interesting
Okay, so the purported author is a rambling old woman in her 70s, but that doesn't mean you will want to bear with this meandering narrative. There isn't much to pull you through--smashing idols with feet of clay? Yawn. Gore Vidal is so much more satisfyingly acidic. Concern for any of the characters? Not much. Fanny T. escapes what little peril she's in during one short chapter. White's descriptions of the characters who populate are marvelous but it's not worth the long sludgy haul to get to them. I'm fond of some of White's other work and thus am disappointed in this one.

Fanny Wright, "a blazing, ten log fire sans firescreen."
In this ambiguously entitled novel, Fanny Trollope, writer and mother of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope, looks back almost thirty years to the late 1820s and her friendship with the notorious Fanny Wright, a utopian visionary who was the first woman to speak publicly as an abolitionist, the first leader of the first labor party, and a radical journalist.In this unfinished (imaginary) biography of the now almost-forgotten Fanny Wright, Fanny Trollope uses flashbacks to explain Wright's development as a firebrand, her association with the intellectual leaders of the day, and the friendship between the two women.

Wright spent much time traveling the "paradise" of the United States, while the financially struggling Fanny Trollope remained in London and Paris, where she met Stendahl, Prosper Merimee, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, and eventually the revered Marquis de Lafayette.Fanny Wright and Lafayette had toured the United States together, and biographer Trollope records for posterity their travels and their meetings--with Thomas Jefferson about slavery, with Charles Bonaparte about the "atheistic, utopian, communistic society [of] Robert Owen," and with representatives of the Haitian government about a possible homeland for freed slaves.

When Wright recruits Fanny Trollope to help her promote a 2000-acre colony called Nashoba, near Memphis, the relationship between Wright and Trollope (who brings three of her children with her) comes to life. Wright intends "to liberate the Negro" and to show that "white men and women can live together without God, money, marriage, or even occupation" in an idyllic community, but Fanny Trollope is shocked by the reality of the Nashoba "utopia" on her arrival. She notes "the general slovenliness of the people" and the poverty all along the Mississippi, and comments that she has to lift her skirts to avoid tobacco juice in public places throughout the US.She is horrified that in Robert Owen's New Harmony, small children see their parents only once or twice a year and that many newcomers are freeloaders with no motivation to work.

As the two women and children travel throughout the country, the reader observes their increasingly fragile relationship.Trollope sees life whole, while Wright sees life in ideal terms, failing to recognize people as individuals while setting goals for humanity in general.Trollope is vividly drawn--resourceful, practical, and instinctively warm--while Wright, the subject of the biography, remains, unfortunately, aloof.Filled with the intellectual, social, and philosophical debates of mid-nineteenth century Europe and the United States, this novel is a fascinating study of two thoughtful, intelligent women who tried to make a difference.Mary Whipple

Unexpected, yet flawless
Being a virgin reader of historical fiction, I am glad that my first time was with Edmund White's Fanny. His literature has been a rich source of information and emotions for the gay community for years (note the trilogy that begun with A boy's own story), as well as for the society in general (the AIDS related theme and the profound knowledge of the human mind), so the departure towards this genre is very exciting. The story flows between an autobiographical tone and a comical narration, through which we are introduced to the lives of the two Fannys: Mrs. Trollope the narrator, and Miss Wright the subject of most of it. The author knows exactly when to call for a laugh so one does not feel overwhelmed with too much history (the spitting anecdotes of the american men during the first visit of the european ladies to the New World), or how to reckon the current times by association (the description of old New York or Cincinnatti can only make us think of how things have changed to this day!). On the other hand, the "cameo" appearances of known people like Lafayette, Brownings or Jefferson serve to get us all set in time and provoke much more interest in the reader. The only hint about a gay relationship is given almost at the end, but he quickly turns the flashlight to another topic. Overall, this is a book that will not disappoint even the most exquisite taste. Every element that has made Edmund White one of the best writers of our generation is present here, and many more that we get to discover with joy. Enough to count the days until we can dive into his next book. ... Read more

Product Description

"The author's lyricism and low-key humor successfully contend with the weight of an immense melancholy. And despite its casual texture, Tondelli's prose never deviates far from the 'seam of that other reality that we call art'."-The New York Times Book Review

Leo is an Italian writer in his 30s. Thomas, his German lover, is dead. On a plane to Munich, Thomas' home town, Leo slips into a reverie of their meeting and life in Paris, nights in Thomas' flat in Montmartre and a desperate, drug-induced flight through the forests of northern France. Tondelli's last book is a powerful novel of the strength of love and the trauma of death.

Pier Vittorio Tondelli died of AIDS in Milan in 1991. The author of four novels and a collection of short stories, Tondelli was one of the most gifted Italian writers of his generation.

Customer Reviews (6)

A real find!
I picked up this little book completely by chance at the local bookstore the other day. This is the time of year when few new books are out and I have to dig a bit to find anything interesting to read.

I'd never heard of either the author or the book, but it was short enough so I bought it.

I was stunned. Tondelli pulls off, in 186 pages what some authors have been trying in several books to examine: Why do men stay together? (It was a complete coincidence that I read this book after reading "Comfort and Joy." The two books couldn't be more dissimilar.

Where "Comfort and Joy" is, in the end, optimistic about two men finding ways to love each other and live together, "Separate Rooms" is not.

Highly autobiographical, "Separate Rooms" tells the story of Leo, an Italian writer, and his lover Thomas. By the time the story begins, Thomas is already dead, and Leo is reflecting on their relationship and why it didn't work.

From the book:

"Now he had to give serious thought to the notion of living together with another man. But he had no models to follow, no experience to recycle and fall back on in this stage of their relationship. He knew that the love he still felt for Thomas would not be enough on its own. They would tear each other to pieces and that was the last thing he wanted... Living together meant believing in values that neither of them was capable of recognizing. How would their love end? Would they have no option but to normalize a relationship that society was in fact incapable of accepting as something normal? Would they not turn into the mirror image of those groteque homosexual couples where one does all the cooking and the other always goes to the market to do the shopping? Where the two lovers resemble each other in their attitudes, in their way of doing things, even in their facial expressions, to the point where they become two pathetic replicas of one and the same unbearable imaginary male, emasculated and effeminate?"

I haven't yet talked to anyone else who has ever read this book, which is a shame.It should be widely read.

Tearfully beautiful!
Beautiful book! Simply heart-wrenchingly beautiful! What a precious little gem! I keep returning to search for another book by the author, even though I know he's dead... I get angry at him that he died before writinganother... I guess it is one of those unique masterpieces where the writehas written but one work.. but one. And the passion of a human facing hismortality exudes on every page: loss, love, memory, death, and all theother ghosts that haunt us... I will read it again and again and again!

read it!
Tondelli is able to touch us deeply with this awesome book in which the boundary between auto-biography and fiction seems to collapse in the telling of a wonderful love story. The crisis of the lost love and of thelost of youth are the main themes. The words flow constantly, withoutpausing and reaching the perfection of a masterpiece.

un viaggio al centro dei nostri tempi
Tondelli descrive, con la forza evocativa delle sue parole, un viaggio al centro del nostro tempo. In Leo ritroviamo l'egoismo e la generosità, la ricerca del divino e il compiacimento nel degrado morale, lo slancio verso la frenesia delle metropoli e l'ansia di ritrovare le proprie radici culturali nelle tradizioni della campagna emiliana. Parlando di se, Tondelli parla di noi, di quanto sia faticoso assecondare ogni giorno la mutevole direzione dei nostri desideri e della nostra missione.

immagini eccezionali
grande capacità evocativa associata alle parole. Un romanzo incredibile per la sua compattezza, la sua forza e fragilità. Si rimane sempre con la voglia di andare avanti, non tanto per scoprire qualcosa, quanto per godere delle immagini che riga dopo riga, magicamente si formano nella mente. Leggi la parte quando Leo torna al paese e passeggia per le vie del centro, guardando dentro le case attraverso i vetri delle finestre....uno tra i libri migliori. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Edmund is a Rock STAR
Behold! The definitive book of the movie of the book of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, number one in publishing order, number two in chronological order, by Scout Driggs, the number one adaptationist in our hearts for all time! This is the finest illustrated adaptation of this short section of the book and film that this reviewer has ever had the visual and brainiacical pleasure of celebrating with my mind! Scout Driggs' formidable pen, or keyboard is put to the test, and the test is aced with remarkable confidence and deft linguistic mastery! There is no lingering in the unessential prettiness of Lewis's drudging prose, Driggs carves images tersely like butter busts of past and present Dairy Princesses on glorious display in the refrigerated arena at the State Fair! Scout Driggs if only I had a butter bust of your unmatchable intellect locked safe in my fridge, good conversation would be no further away than a piece of dry toast. ... Read more