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White, Edmund.
CHAOS: A NOVELLA AND STORIES.
New York City, NY:
Carroll & Graf Publishers,
2007.
Hardcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
184 pages.
As New/As New.
The author's debut novella accompanied by three new short stories. One of the most important literary events of the year 2007. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. In many ways, "Chaos" may be seen as the fictional mirror-work of "My Lives", Edmund White's dazzling memoir. He continues to write inimitably in the autobiographical vein (there is no question that the 65-year-old protagonist in "Chaos" is Edmund White), confronting the gay American subculture's deepest taboo: Age. Since youth and beauty are the highest values of the homosexual aesthetic, which has been true of all, not just American, homosexual cultures throughout history, from the Greeks onwards, it is not surprising that aging and old age are its greatest fears. The intimate connection between Hollywood and homosexuality is precisely because of both cultures' belief that youth is beauty, old age, ugly. White writes with moving candor about what it means to be an aging American gay man, what it means, that is, to be irrelevant, unwanted, and invisible in your very own milieu. Forget about the American mainstream, which has always ignored you and will deny you the right to marriage. Look no farther than your closest circle and how you have become a relic. Edmund White has been called the chronicler of the gay Zeitgeist, and his main readers are other self-identified gay men. Posterity will vindicate him as the writer of truth, the philosopher of pleasure, and the true giver of beauty, someone all readers who consider themselves literate should read. A "must-have" title for Edmund White collectors. This copy is prominently and beautifully signed in blue pen on the title page by Edmund White. It is signed directly on the title page, not on a tipped-in page or a bookplate. This title will become collectible. This is the only signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A very scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest living American writers. A flawless copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0786720050. $50.00 |
