Category Archives: Uncategorized

Yiyin Li remembers Edmund White

A friendship of voracious readers: https://yalereview.org/article/yiyun-li-edmund-white-tribute:

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Queer Lives : Edmund White, 1940-2025

According to the Guardian, Edmund White, an acclaimed novelist of gay life, « died on Tuesday evening while waiting for an ambulance after experiencing symptoms of a stomach illness. His death was confirmed to the Guardian by his agent, Bill … Continue reading

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Gaydar in À la recherche du temps perdu

Baron de Charlus attends his first Verdurin dinner party at La Raspelière with Morel and he misinterprets Dr. Cottard’s gaze as some kind of sexual advance: « Pour M. de Charlus, qui pensait peut-être aux dangers (bien imaginaires) que la présence … Continue reading

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Queer Lives : Angelo Rinaldi, 1939-2025

Angelo Rinaldi, the French writer and literary critic, died in Paris on May 7. He will be remembered for his sharp, uncompromising reviews published in L’Express between 1972 and 1998 – a selection of which was recently reissued by the small press … Continue reading

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Edmund White on gay literature

In his last book, The Loves of my Life (Bloomsbury, 2025), Edmund White writes these comments which I found interesting : « The Pupil is one of the best gay short stories ever written, unless it’s Conrad’s The Secret Sharer – and he wasn’t even gay! » « Now … Continue reading

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Mario Vargas Llosa, 1936-2025

In his appraisal in the New York Times Dwight Garner overlooks El sueño del celta (2010), which, among the novels I have read, is my favorite. Interweaving Roger Casement’s last days in prison with flashbacks from his life, Vargas Llosa presents us with a … Continue reading

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Queer Lives : Felice Picano, 1944-2025

Felice Picano was an American writer influential in the emergence of post-Stonewall gay literature. He was a member of the so-called Violet Quill Club a group of gay writers that also included Edmund White and Andrew Holleran, the two last surviving … Continue reading

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Of course, we must talk about Kafka! 

Of course, we must talk about Kafka! The year coming to an end marks the centenary of his death, on June 3 1924, at the age of 40. Author of a multifaceted body of work, the Czech writer has been … Continue reading

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Celebrating the centenary of James Baldwin’s birth 

Under this title, Fred d’Aguilar, in December 6th TLS, reviews Baldwin’s memoir, No Name in the Street, “beautifully reissued by Penguin Classics,” and several recently published books on the author, who was born on August 2, 1924, among which: Colm Tóibín’s On James … Continue reading

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Garth Greenwell and the books of his life 

Garth Greenwell was recently featured in the excellent The Book of my Life weekly column in The Guardian. Among other things, he talks about Saint Augustine, the author of Confessions (an “autofiction”), his favorite writer, WG Sebald’s The Ring of Saturn, which made him wanting … Continue reading

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