The Beautiful Room Is Empty | The Beautiful Room Is Empty

At a glance:

Author: Edmund White
First Published: 1988
Type of Work: Novel
Time of Work: The late 1950's and the 1960's
Setting: Michigan, Chicago, and New York City
Principal Characters: Narrator, Maria, Dr. O’Reilly, Annie Schroeder, William Everett Hunton, Lou, Sean
Genres: Long fiction, Autobiographical fiction
Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Sex or sexuality, Twentieth century, Alienation, Drug addiction or addicts, Identity, Conformity, Dating
Locales: New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Michigan

The Beautiful Room Is Empty is an autobiographical novel about growing up gay in America. It was preceded, in 1982, by Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story—a prequel featuring the same narrator—and it is clear from the author's own comments and from the conclusion of The Beautiful Room Is Empty that this story of a cultural evolution is not finished. The Beautiful Room Is Empty, which covers the 1960's, the great era of sexual liberation for American society at large, could easily have been a joyous narrative. Instead, it is a halting, doubting story of...

The Beautiful Room Is Empty | The Beautiful Room Is Empty

At a glance:

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