Gay Writer Edmund White's Gets Real in "The Loves of My Life"

 

Edmund White sure does like to talk about himself. A LOT! But when you've crammed so many experiences into one life, it isn't that surprising that he would release a SIXTH memoir.

Filled with the same wit and intelligence of his earlier work, Loves of My Life explores the shifting sexual conventions of gay life through seven decades, from the oppressive 50s to the “brewing storm in the 2020s against everything labelled ‘woke’”.

And he's very honest. He starts the memoir with an interesting confession: he has “a small penis.” But in spite of any shortcomings, he's been a very sexual being most of his life. 

In one chapter, he has his sights set on a possibly straight man. So, to see if there is any chance of a physical encounter, he tells the guy an explicit story about a promiscuous gay schoolmate. And when White sees that the story has aroused the man, he announces: “Well it’s me!”

And there's lots more, from the pros and cons of hiring men for sex to “hillbilly hustlers” who claim that receiving oral from other men didn’t make them gay. 

It really is an open and honest look at sexuality, and how people try to navigate it in such a confusing, ever changing world.

 Loves of My Life is out now.