Connect with us

Books

Edmund White’s latest a cornucopia of desire, adventure, wit

‘A Previous Life’ offers meta take on polyamory, bisexuality

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing)

‘A Previous Life: Another Posthumous Novel’
By Edmund White
c.2022, Bloomsbury Publishing
$26/270 pages

If you’re jonesing for sex, polyamory, and gossipy confessions, don’t rush toward the bright young things.

You’ll find as much, likely more, lust, beauty, and love – spiced with fab gab, if you turn to Edmund White, the queer, 82-year-old, acclaimed novelist, essayist, biographer and memoirist.

In “A Previous Life,” his latest novel, White gives us enough passion to rouse even the stoniest heart. The novel, a work of metafiction set in 2050, features a polyamorous, bisexual married couple – Ruggero Castelnuovo, a 70-year-old, Sicilian, renowned harpsichordist, and Constance, 30, a wannabe American writer. One day, after he breaks his leg skiing, Ruggero is stuck in the chalet where he and Constance live. Constance cares for him as he recovers.

Ruggero and Constance have had quite a past. They have agreed not to talk to each other about their past sexual adventures and affairs. Too much honesty can only cause trouble, they believe. They agreed “soon after they met never to talk about their past lives;” White writes, “transparency had destroyed their earlier marriages.”

But, as Ruggero convalesces, the couple changes their views. They decide that transparency would be good, and agree to write and read to each other their “confessions” about their past – from one-night hook-ups to short, hot romances to long-term liaisons.

“A Previous Life” is a glorious, galloping romp through their sexual adventures. Gender fluidity and bisexuality are the norm for them. And for many others in their time (three decades from now – at mid 21st century).

Ruggero, whose parents died young, was raised in Sicily by his grandfather. Early on, he knew that he liked music and boys. He begins having sex as a teen with his hetero cousin Giuseppe. He adored showering with Giuseppe and gazing at Giuseppe’s butt. His cousin’s ass, Ruggero tells Constance, was “soccer round, luminously white, the cracks beckoning and furry and unsuspecting.”

Ruggero grows up to be a critically acclaimed musician and a bisexual, adventurous lover. Among Ruggero’s many affairs, was his romance with the deceased, perhaps passe, but historically important writer Edmund White. Before wedding Constance, Ruggero was married twice.

Constance, whose parents also die when she is a child, is raised by family friends in Bowling Green, Ohio. Her first experience with sex – when her “uncle,” her legal guardian, sexually abuses her – is traumatic. She gets herself away from this situation by getting a scholarship to Princeton. After college, she lives through two terrible marriages. One husband robs her of all the money she’s earned. Another husband, a pompous, closet-case writer, humiliates her. Like Ruggero, Constance has had male and female lovers.

White, a co-founder of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and of the 1980s queer writers group The Violet Quill, grew up in the Midwest in the 1940s and 1950s when you weren’t out if you were gay and knew no openly queer people.

When White began to write in the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the first queer writers to write novels with gay protagonists — let alone queer characters who didn’t die or go to prison for their queerness. In that homophobic time, White was one of a very few queer authors who were brave enough to come out in their work.

White is best-known for his autobiographical fiction – especially, for his semi-autobiographical trilogy: “A Boy’s Own Story” (1982), “The Beautiful Room is Empty” (1988) and “The Farewell Symphony” (1997).

White is the main character of “A Previous Life.” Yet, the novel is meta. In it, White, the author, seems to grapple with his legacy. Because it’s set 30 years in the future, White’s able to imagine, from a distance of three decades, what his place in literary history will be. He wonders if the only people who will remember his work are a few “old queens.” There’s a biography out about his life but “scholars have worked more on [David] Sedaris.”

There’s little likelihood of White’s legacy ever being diminished. His work is too important to LGBTQ and literary history to be erased.

“A Previous Life” is a cornucopia of desire, adventure and wit.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Books

How one gay Catholic helped change the world

‘A Prince of a Boy,’ falls short of author’s previous work

Published

on

(Book cover image via Amazon)

Brian McNaught, the pioneering gay activist and author of 1986’s “On Being Gay” and 1993’s “Gay Issues in the Workplace,” has written a personal account about his Catholic faith and homosexuality. It is a memoir without much substance.  

“A Prince of a Boy: How One Gay Catholic Helped Change the World” (Cascade Books) is a strong personal statement by McNaught. He helped change family relationships. He helped change attitudes about homosexuality. He helped change workplaces, but the world?

In January 2023, the Catholic News Service reported that Pope Francis announced that, “being homosexual is not a crime.” In December 2023, NPR reported that Pope Francis approved “Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, but not for marriage.” Francis died Monday at age 88. Although Catholics may not see homosexuality as a crime, they see sex outside of marriage as a sin. They see same-sex marriage as a sin.

In 2021, Gallup reported that membership in the Catholic Church had declined 20 percent since 2000. In 2025, the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study found that nearly 40 percent of Americans identified as Protestant, while the same study found that only 19 percent identified as Catholic.

McNaught devotes much of his book to his life as a gay Catholic. It is challenging to read about his personal struggle. Some readers may find it interesting. Others might find it boring. Catholic readers may find it more compelling than Protestant readers.

As the above statistics prove, McNaught has much more work to do to change the Catholic Church’s views about homosexuality. We should be glad for his contribution to the debate within the Catholic Church. We should pray for full acceptance of gays in the Catholic Church.

“A Prince of a Boy” becomes more interesting when McNaught describes his work as an educator on LGBTQ issues. He has had an impact on workplace policies, academic programs, and public education, and his lectures, books, and other materials are widely used. 

Based on my experience in the federal government and volunteering with LGBTQ organizations from the Bay Area to Washington, D.C., I believe McNaught’s work as an educator has improved LGBTQ lives, careers, and families. During the Clinton administration, I gave many copies of “Gay Issues in the Workplace” to personnel directors. I felt their staff could benefit from reading it. I thought it would help the lives and careers of my federal LGBTQ colleagues.

McNaught’s “A Prince of a Boy” was released in December 2024. Anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant died the same month. Bryant campaigned against a gay rights law in Florida. She began a national campaign against gays.

When Bryant successfully reversed a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida, McNaught wrote the important essay “Dear Anita, Late Night Thoughts of an Irish Catholic Homosexual.” The essay is not in “A Prince of a Boy”; however, McNaught mentions Bryant.

In his training programs, McNaught describes homosexuals as journeying from confusion to denial to acceptance to pride. “Anita Bryant and AIDS brought Gay people to identity pride very quickly,” McNaught writes. San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930-1978) and other activists reached similar conclusions about Bryant’s vicious anti-gay campaign.

McNaught helped change the LGBTQ world and brought pride to many people’s lives. McNaught walks in pride, works in pride, and educates others in pride. 

“A Prince of a Boy” is a disappointing book. It provides small details about Brian McNaught’s large, proud life. A meaningful biography about this great gay leader is long overdue.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

Continue Reading

Books

‘Pronoun Trouble’ reminds us that punctuation matters

‘They’ has been a shape-shifter for more than 700 years

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of Avery)

‘Pronoun Trouble’
By John McWhorter
c.2025, Avery
$28/240 pages

Punctuation matters.

It’s tempting to skip a period at the end of a sentence Tempting to overuse exclamation points!!! very tempting to MeSs with capital letters. Dont use apostrophes. Ask a question and ignore the proper punctuation commas or question marks because seriously who cares. So guess what? Someone does, punctuation really matters, and as you’ll see in “Pronoun Trouble” by John McWhorter, so do other parts of our language.

Conversation is an odd thing. It’s spontaneous, it ebbs and flows, and it’s often inferred. Take, for instance, if you talk about him. Chances are, everyone in the conversation knows who him is. Or he. That guy there.

That’s the handy part about pronouns. Says McWhorter, pronouns “function as shorthand” for whomever we’re discussing or referring to. They’re “part of our hardwiring,” they’re found in all languages, and they’ve been around for centuries.

And, yes, pronouns are fluid.

For example, there’s the first-person pronoun, I as in me and there we go again. The singular I solely affects what comes afterward. You say “he-she IS,” and “they-you ARE” but I am. From “Black English,” I has also morphed into the perfectly acceptable Ima, shorthand for “I am going to.” Mind blown.

If you love Shakespeare, you may’ve noticed that he uses both thou and you in his plays. The former was once left to commoners and lower classes, while the latter was for people of high status or less formal situations. From you, we get y’all, yeet, ya, you-uns, and yinz. We also get “you guys,” which may have nothing to do with guys.

We and us are warmer in tone because of the inclusion implied. She is often casually used to imply cars, boats, and – warmly or not – gay men, in certain settings. It “lacks personhood,” and to use it in reference to a human is “barbarity.”

And yes, though it can sometimes be confusing to modern speakers, the singular word “they” has been a “shape-shifter” for more than 700 years.

Your high school English teacher would be proud of you, if you pick up “Pronoun Trouble.” Sadly, though, you might need her again to make sense of big parts of this book: What you’ll find here is a delightful romp through language, but it’s also very erudite.

Author John McWhorter invites readers along to conjugate verbs, and doing so will take you back to ancient literature, on a fascinating journey that’s perfect for word nerds and anyone who loves language. You’ll likely find a bit of controversy here or there on various entries, but you’ll also find humor and pop culture, an explanation for why zie never took off, and assurance that the whole flap over strictly-gendered pronouns is nothing but overblown protestation. Readers who have opinions will like that.

Still, if you just want the pronoun you want, a little between-the-lines looking is necessary here, so beware. “Pronoun Trouble” is perfect for linguists, writers, and those who love to play with words but for most readers, it’s a different kind of book, period.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

Continue Reading

Books

New book helps vulnerable people to stay safe

Tips for overcoming crippling effects of fear

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of Beacon Press)

‘The Cost of Fear’
By Meg Stone
c.2025, Beacon Press
$26.95/232 pages

The footsteps fell behind you, keeping pace.

They were loud as an airplane, a few decibels below the beat of your heart. Yes, someone was following you, and you shouldn’t have let it happen. You’re no dummy. You’re no wimp. Read the new book, “The Cost of Fear” by Meg Stone, and you’re no statistic. Ask around.

Query young women, older women, grandmothers, and teenagers. Ask gay men, lesbians, and trans individuals, and chances are that every one of them has a story of being scared of another person in a public place. Scared – or worse.

Says author Meg Stone, nearly half of the women in a recent survey reported having “experienced… unwanted sexual contact” of some sort. Almost a quarter of the men surveyed said the same. Nearly 30 percent of men in another survey admitted to having “perpetrated some form of sexual assault.”

We focus on these statistics, says Stone, but we advise ineffectual safety measures.

“Victim blame is rampant,” she says, and women and LGBTQ individuals are taught avoidance methods that may not work. If someone’s in the “early stages of their careers,” perpetrators may still hold all the cards through threats and career blackmail. Stone cites cases in which someone who was assaulted reported the crime, but police dropped the ball. Old tropes still exist and repeating or relying on them may be downright dangerous.

As a result of such ineffectiveness, fear keeps frightened individuals from normal activities, leaving the house, shopping, going out with friends for an evening.

So how can you stay safe?

Says Stone, learn how to fight back by using your whole body, not just your hands. Be willing to record what’s happening. Don’t abandon your activism, she says; in fact, join a group that helps give people tools to protect themselves. Learn the right way to stand up for someone who’s uncomfortable or endangered. Remember that you can’t be blamed for another person’s bad behavior, and it shouldn’t mean you can’t react.

If you pick up “The Cost of Fear,” hoping to learn ways to protect yourself, there are two things to keep in mind.

First, though most of this book is written for women, it doesn’t take much of a leap to see how its advice could translate to any other world. Author Stone, in fact, includes people of all ages, genders, and all races in her case studies and lessons, and she clearly explains a bit of what she teaches in her classes. That width is helpful, and welcome.

Secondly, she asks readers to do something potentially controversial: she requests changes in sentencing laws for certain former and rehabilitated abusers, particularly for offenders who were teens when sentenced. Stone lays out her reasoning and begs for understanding; still, some readers may be resistant and some may be triggered.

Keep that in mind, and “The Cost of Fear” is a great book for a young adult or anyone who needs to increase alertness, adopt careful practices, and stay safe. Take steps to have it soon.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular