Synopses & Reviews
Jack Holmes and Will Wright arrive in New York in the calm before the storm of the 1960s. Coworkers at a cultural journal, they soon become good friends. Jack even introduces Will to the woman he will marry. But their friendship is complicated: Jack is also in love with Will. Troubled by his subversive longings, Jack sees a psychiatrist and dates a few women, while also pursuing short-lived liaisons with other men. But in the two decades of their friendship, from the first stirrings of gay liberation through the catastrophe of AIDS, Jack remains devoted to Will. And as Will embraces his heterosexual sensuality, nearly destroying his marriage, the two men share a newfound libertinism in a city that is itself embracing its freedom.
Moving among beautifully delineated characters in a variety of social milieus, Edmund White brings narrative daring and an exquisite sense of life's submerged drama to this masterful exploration of friendship, sexuality, and sensibility during a watershed moment in history.
Synopsis
Jack Holmes and Will Wright both arrive in New York in the calm before the storm of the 1960s. Coworkers at a cultural journal, they soon become good friends. Their friendship is complicated: Jack is gay, and in love with Will. But over the two decades of their acquaintance, from the first stirrings of the gay liberation movement to the catastrophe of the AIDS epidemic, their bond will evolve—and these men will evolve—in entirely unanticipated ways. Through a tumultuous period in history, Edmund White has woven a delicate tale of friendship, sensibility, and sexuality.
Synopsis
A beautiful novel about an unconventional relationship, Jack Holmes and His Friend charts the friendship of Jack Holmes and Will Wright from their arrival in New York on the eve of the wild 60s, over two decades through the first stirrings of gay liberation and the catastrophe of AIDS. Jack is gay, Will is straight, and Jack will always be devoted to Will, but he will also introduce him to women and help him explore a more free heterosexuality. Edmund White explores identity, sexuality, society, and the sweep of history in this sensitive story of a complicated intimacy.
About the Author
Edmund White is the author of many novels, including A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, The Farewell Symphony, and, most recently, Hotel de Dream. His nonfiction includes City Boy and other memoirs; The Flaneur, about Paris; and literary biographies and essays. White lives in New York and teaches at Princeton University.