The Farewell Symphony
.jpg) Cover of the first US edition | |
| Author | Edmund White |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Chip Kidd |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiographical novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1997 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 413 pp |
| ISBN | 0-679-43477-1 |
| OCLC | 37538014 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.H463 F37 1997 |
The Farewell Symphony is a 1997 semi-autobiographical novel by Edmund White.
It is the third of a trilogy of novels, being preceded by A Boy's Own Story (1982) and The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988). It depicts the later adulthood of its protagonist and documents his experience of homosexuality from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Allusions to other works
The title alludes to the "Farewell" Symphony by Joseph Haydn.
Criticism
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the journalist James Wolcott suggested that the book "might have been more honestly titled Hilly Buttocks I Have Known," wherein the author "invites us to join him as he revisits the beloved rear ends of yesteryear. This is not the sort of invitation many people will leap to accept." Wolcott concluded, "Edmund White the writer has given way to Edmund White the trashy raconteur. It's the same fate that befell Truman Capote, and it wasn't pretty then either."[1]
References
External links