Our Young Man
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $15.99
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
______________
'One of the best writers of my generation' - John Irving
'A playful yet searching novel of gay life in the New York of Ed Koch and Studio 54' - Kirkus
'Smart, worldly, erudite, well-connected, and funny' - New York Review of Books
'Remarkable … America's most significant gay writer' - Literary Review
______________
'Has everyone always been in love with you? Of course they have, who am I kidding? What did they say about Helen of Troy? That her face launched a thousand ships? That's you, you're that beautiful. A thousand ships'
New York City in the eighties, and at its decadent heart is Guy. The darling of Fire Island's gay community and one of New York's top male models, Guy is gliding his way to riches that are a world away from his modest provincial upbringing back home in France. Like some modern-day Dorian Gray he seems untouched by time: the decades pass, fashions change, yet his beauty remains as transcendent and captivating as ever.
Such looks cannot help but bring him adoration. From sweet yet pathetic Fred to the wealthy and masochistic Baron, from the acerbic and cynical Pierre-Georges to Andre, fabricating Dalí fakes and hurtling towards prison and the abyss, all are in some way fixated on him. In return for the devotion and expensive gifts they lavish on him, he plays with unswerving loyalty whatever role they project onto him: unattainable idol, passionate lover, malleable client. But just as the years are catching up on his smooth skin and perfect body, so his way of life is closing in on him and destroying the men he loves.
Edmund White has in Our Young Man created some of the richest representations of gay male identity, from the disco era to the age of AIDs. What links them all is the allure and enchantment they find in beauty. Revelling in its magic, Our Young Man nonetheless slips beneath the seductive surface to examine its dangerous depths, exploring its power to fascinate, enslave and deceive.
Mesmerising, blackly comic, and delicately crafted, this is an exquisite novel from a contemporary master.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Guy, a beautiful young man from the French countryside, is picked up by a modeling scout on a church trip to Paris; he rapidly ascends through the Parisian modeling world and crosses the Atlantic with plans to make it big in the New York fashion scene. Guy is gay, which raised no concerns while living in his native France, but upon arrival in New York the apocalyptic bloom of AIDS is just beginning. Both horrified by the epidemic and charmed by the swinging life on Fire Island, Guy must tiptoe carefully as he becomes a fixture of high-spending fashion circles. This balancing act becomes ever more precarious as he develops a relationship with "the baron," a wealthy hedonist who takes an uncanny interest in the aspiring model. In spite of his adventurous lifestyle, Guy maintains an angelic na vet and somewhat provincial moral compass scruples that trip him up as he navigates this new, extravagant world. Handsome and charming, he is a vulnerable target, consistently manipulated by the powerful characters attracted to him. Although the dialogue falters in places, White renders a beautiful portrait of a time in America that was prosperous, carefree, and increasingly toxic. Suffused with sensual writing and wry cultural observations, White's tale of disco-era Fire Island is a vibrant portrait of a tumultuous age.
