The Loves of My Life

Textured and variegated … A writer’s memoir and a rumination on craft … White is so clearly in complete control of his powers, switching between coquetry and high seriousness, weaving a rich tapestry of cultural references (Jean Genet to Hello Kitty, Stendhal to Sontag) while carefully deploying his unique ability, as Alan Hollinghurst put it, to “translate libido into style” through metaphor … The book’s push against prudishness also contains a subtle call for understanding and compassion – reminders that what has been gained in terms of LGBTQ rights is fragile, and a conviction that a better, bolder future is possible. Anyone can make such an optimistic vision sound appealing; only Edmund White could make it truly seductive -- Ralf Webb * Guardian *
Exhaustively wonderful. An unflinching, romantic and generous climax by a bright star in our literary constellation. The gayest book ever written -- Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat
Melancholy, erratic, wise and often ravishingly beautiful, this is just what you want from a book about sex. It’s as messy, risky and emotional as the act itself – an old-age testament that bears witness not just to Ed’s legendary frankness, but also to his life-long commitment to finding new ways of writing who we might be, have been and are -- Neil Bartlett, author of Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall
Ecstatic, so funny, tender, very hot - a scintillating romp with a literary lion. Daddy's diary fully delivers, pungent and real, teeming with gasp-worthy disclosures, as illuminating as it is filthy. * Jeremy Atherton Lin, author of Gay Bar *
The itch of lust, in most of these encounters, soon turns into swooning poetic ardour . . . the writing in The Loves of My Life is as juicy, ebullient and ecstatic as in his best novels * Observer *
One of the patron saints of queer literature, a new book from Edmund White is always a cause for celebration. The Loves of My Lifefeels like the culmination of a profound wisdom - wry, hilarious, moving, and brilliantly unreserved. This litany of lovers becomes a sort of community in itself, full of vitality and difference. White is still breaking taboos in the most joyous and virtuoso style -- Seán Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness Wide
It’s trousers down from page one … This NSFW addition to a well-sexed body of work does what it says on the tin -- Charles Arrowsmith * The Times *
A journey through the uplit plains of lust, desire, sex, and belonging – utter perfection … A powerful reminder to take nothing for granted not even shared orgasm or the end of oppression -- Michael Cashman, author of One of Them
Edmund White’s The Loves of My Life is a raw, frightening, funny and beautiful testimony, brimming with transgressive wisdom. White asks all the right questions, forcing me to expand much of what I imagined about desire and longing
I don’t know anyone, except Edmund White, who’s had ‘thousands of sex partners.’ I definitely don’t know anyone who writes so ebulliently about former lovers. In his panoply of sexual encounters, Edmund White’s love of sex makes us proud to be human. And the story of his sex life reads like a beautifully crafted, very moving (and very funny!) novel -- John Irving, Academy Award winner
The books by 80-year-old American novelist, memoirist and essayist Edmund White - honest, fierce and joyful explorations of love, sex and family - have been breaking boundaries and engaging readers for nearly 50 years * AARP *
Nearly 50 years after the great Edmund White co-authored The Joy of Gay Sex, we get even more joy, more candor, and more of White's peerless literary style in a witty and highly personal memoir devoted to a lifelong love of sex, and of sex and love. Fabulous - and inspiring! -- Bill Hayes, author of Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me
The American novelist, critic and doyen of queer literature looks back, aged 84, at his own sexual past, from furtive encounters in the 1950s Midwest to app-facilitated hookups in the 2000s * Guardian, Books to Look Forward to 2025 *
The kind of witty, insightful memoir that befits a literary legacy like White’s * Literary Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2025 *