A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White c1983 Semi-Autobiography

Description

Edmund White’s semi-autobiographical novel follows an unnamed narrator’s turbulent adolescence in the homophobic American Midwest of the 1940s and 50s. The sensitive, isolated protagonist struggles to reconcile his burgeoning homosexuality with societal shame and his fractured family life. Written with lyrical prose, the novel explores his desperate attempts at self-cure and denial, ultimately culminating in a painful act of betrayal as he navigates his identity and desire.