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The Farewell Symphony
by Edmund White
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0679434771
- ISBN 13
- 9780679434771
- Seller
-
Carrollton, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. SIGNED. NF/F. Stated First American Edition with no other listed printings. Signed by Edmund White on the title page. The book is tight and square with solid hinges, good corners, and clean unmarred boards. Textblock is clean with no writing, bookplate, or markings and not BCE, ex-library or remaindered. Mild aging on top fore-edges. Dust jacket is unclipped ($25.00) and Fine. Protected in a Brodart Mylar cover.
Following A Boy's Own Story (now a classic of American fiction) and his richly acclaimed The Beautiful Room Is Empty, here is the eagerly awaited final volume of Edmund White's groundbreaking autobiographical trilogy. Named for the work by Haydn in which the instrumentalists leave the stage one after another until only a single violin remains playing, this is the story of a man who has outlived most of his friends. Having reached the six-month anniversary of his lover's death, he embarks on a journey of remembrance that will recount his struggle to become a writer and his discovery of what it means to be a gay man. His witty, conversational narrative transports us from the 1960s to the near present, from starkly erotic scenes in the back rooms of New York clubs to episodes of rarefied hilarity in the salons of Paris to moments of family truth in the American Midwest. Along the way, a breathtaking variety of personal connections--and near misses--slowly builds an awareness of the transformative power of genuine friendship, of love and loss, culminating in an indelible experience with a dying man. And as the flow of memory carries us across time, space and society, one man's magnificently realized story grows to encompass an entire generation. Sublimely funny yet elegiac, full of unsparingly trenchant social observation yet infused with wisdom and a deeply felt compassion, The Farewell Symphony is a triumph of reflection and expressive elegance. It is also a stunning and wholly original panorama of gay life over the past thirty years--the crowning achievement of one of our finest writers.
Following A Boy's Own Story (now a classic of American fiction) and his richly acclaimed The Beautiful Room Is Empty, here is the eagerly awaited final volume of Edmund White's groundbreaking autobiographical trilogy. Named for the work by Haydn in which the instrumentalists leave the stage one after another until only a single violin remains playing, this is the story of a man who has outlived most of his friends. Having reached the six-month anniversary of his lover's death, he embarks on a journey of remembrance that will recount his struggle to become a writer and his discovery of what it means to be a gay man. His witty, conversational narrative transports us from the 1960s to the near present, from starkly erotic scenes in the back rooms of New York clubs to episodes of rarefied hilarity in the salons of Paris to moments of family truth in the American Midwest. Along the way, a breathtaking variety of personal connections--and near misses--slowly builds an awareness of the transformative power of genuine friendship, of love and loss, culminating in an indelible experience with a dying man. And as the flow of memory carries us across time, space and society, one man's magnificently realized story grows to encompass an entire generation. Sublimely funny yet elegiac, full of unsparingly trenchant social observation yet infused with wisdom and a deeply felt compassion, The Farewell Symphony is a triumph of reflection and expressive elegance. It is also a stunning and wholly original panorama of gay life over the past thirty years--the crowning achievement of one of our finest writers.
Synopsis
Edmund White was born in Cincinnati in 1940. He has taught literature and creative writing at Yale, Johns Hopkins, New York University and Columbia, was a full professor of English at Brown and served as executive director of the New York Institute for the Humanities. In 1983 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Award for Literature from the National Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1993 he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres. For his last book, Genet: A Biography (1993), he was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Lambda Literary Award. His other books include Forgetting Elena, Nocturnes for the King of Naples, States of Desire: Travels in Gay America, A Boy's Own Story, Caracole and The Beautiful Room Is Empty. He lives in Paris. From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Armadillo Alley Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2444
- Title
- The Farewell Symphony
- Author
- Edmund White
- Format/Binding
- Cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First American Edition / First Printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0679434771
- ISBN 13
- 9780679434771
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1997
- Bookseller catalogs
- First Editions; Signed Books;
Terms of Sale
Armadillo Alley Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Armadillo Alley Books
Biblio member since 2020
Carrollton, Texas
About Armadillo Alley Books
In business since 1997, Armadillo Alley Books specializes in Modern First Editions, Signed First Editions and Limited Editions of fine books. All our books are wrapped and packaged with the utmost care and mailed in sturdy boxes. We guarantee our products and welcome all questions. Linger a few moments and browse a bit!
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Brodart
- Generally used to refer to a clear plastic cover that is sometimes added to the dustjacket or outside covering of a book. The...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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