“The French are pretty thin-skinned. The few times I mentioned a French writer in 'City Boy,' the relatives would ring up in high dudgeon. I once wrote a mocking review of Marguerite Duras in the 'New York Review of Books,' and good friends of mine in France got very angry.”

American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and essayist

Edmund White was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. He was known as a pioneering figure in LGBTQ, especially gay, literature after the Stonewall riots. He wrote with unusual candor about gay identity, relationships, and sex, at a time when coming out could still be dangerous. His work is marked by intimacy and literary elegance. Among his best-known books are the semi-autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, and The Farewell Symphony, and he also co-authored The Joy of Gay Sex, which helped encourage a sex-positive conversation.