In retrospect, we could see that the 1950s had been a reactionary period in America of Eisenhower blandness, of virulent anticommunism, of the 'Feminine Mystique.' Edmund White 1950samericaanticommunism Change image and share on social
In a novel, I think you have a contract with the reader to make the character representative - of a moment in history, a social class... for instance, I wanted to make the boy in 'A Boy's Own Story' more like other gay men of my generation in their youth and not like me. Edmund White boycharacterclass share on social
Perhaps no other body of literature is as subject to political pressures from within the community as gay fiction. Edmund White bodycommunityfiction Change image and share on social
These rejections hurt me terribly because I felt it was my life that was being rejected. Edmund White felthurtlife Change image and share on social
If bigots oppose gay marriage so vehemently, it must be because marriage is a defining institution for them; gays will never be fully accepted until they can marry and adopt, like anyone else. Edmund White acceptadoptbigot Change image and share on social
Biography can be the most middle-class of all forms, the judgment of little people avenging themselves on the great. Edmund White avengbiographyclass Change image and share on social
I never liked my father. He really was a dullard and misanthrope. My mother and he were married for 22, years and it was an ill match. She encouraged me to be a writer. She opened her home to black friends, and this was the 1950s. She didn't care later when I write about her. Edmund White 1950sblackcare share on social
I suppose people hadn't really thought each decade should have its own character and be different from the others till the 1920s, although I remember in a nineteenth-century Russian novel someone remarked that a character was a typical man of the 1830s - progressive and an atheist. Edmund White 1830s1920satheist share on social
I think I could be a cook. Everybody always says I'm good, though I think it's quite gruelling as a profession. Edmund White cookgoodgruelling Change image and share on social
The culmination of a long struggle was 2013, which could clearly be labeled the Year of the Gay. State after state had legalized gay marriage, despite intense opposition from the religious right. Edmund White culminationgayintense Change image and share on social