The Burning Library

This text brings together 40 of the best of Edmund White’s essays, articles and reviews from more than 20 years. Within a broad spectrum of interviews and profiles, the collection focuses on the literary and cultural figures whose work has influenced and intrigued White, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Tennesee Williams, James Merrill, Michel Foucault, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roland Barthes, Christopher Isherwood, Juan Goytisolo, and Marguerite Yourcenar. While their work is subject to White’s criticism, the men and women themselves are brought to life by White’s ability to convey quirks of personality and oddities of place. Interleaved with these essays are articles tracing White’s response to the changing political dimensions of homosexual life – the name of the book refers to those writers and artists who have died of AIDS. Edmund White’s books include “A Boy’s Own Story”, “States of Travels in Gay America” and “Genet”.