Where to start with: Edmund White
Starting out his career in New York, during the magical and radical years that fell between gay liberation and Aids, he then worked hard and long enough to be eventually acclaimed as the 'elder stateman' of American queer literary fiction. White's most characteristic trick as a writer was to pair his impeccably 'high' style with the raunchiest possible subject-matter. When talking about gay men's sex-lives, the goods have rarely been delivered so elegantly. Author and director Neil Bartlett suggests some good places to start.
A Boy's Own Story (1982) was White's breakthrough in the UK. A wonderfully well-told and clear-eyed chronicle of one young man's progress though the 1950s, it was streets ahead of any other queer 'coming of age' novel that had appeared up to that point – and changed British publishing. This was the novel that finally proved to the industry that if your sentences are beautiful and true enough, then book-buyers of all stripes will love you. And not despite the fact that you're gay, but because of it.
White wrote six volumes of autobiography; in addition, almost all of his fiction has clear autobiographical roots. For its lavishly deadpan evocation of a truly appalling childhood – and especially for its brutal takedown of White's own trainwreck of a father – try starting your relationship with the man behind the fabulous sentences by sampling My Lives. And to get his view on Aids and its aftershocks – the context of almost everything he wrote – read The Married Man, his autobiographical novel, which ends with an only very lightly fictionalised account of the death of White's lover Hubert Sorin from Aids in 1994. The heartbreak that lies at the heart of the last 45 years of gay life has often been written about, but rarely so dispassionately or powerfully as in those pages.
White's book that almost no one now talks about is one of his most important – and enjoyable. The Joy of Gay Sex is a gloriously sex-positive, wise and witty compendium of advice about how to get the best out of your body – and your heart. The term gets used too often, but this is a groundbreaking volume.
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White wrote as he talked: unstoppably, generously and at speed. The exception to this rule was his magisterial 1993 biography of Jean Genet, which took him seven years to research and finish. The result is a heartfelt tribute to Genet's own art and a scrupulously well-organised account of how a gutter-born queer outsider became one of his country's greatest literary stylists – and one of the most risk-taking political provocateurs of his century. Genet was about as unlike White in his background and life choices as a fellow gay author could have been; nonetheless, the fact that this book was a labour of love shows on its every page.
Forgetting Elena (1973) was White's first published book. A scrupulously enigmatic account of life on Fire Island, off Long Island, it somehow manages to transmute its bewildered young protagonist's doubts and fantasies into something as elegant, beautiful and mysteriously meaningful as a Japanese folding screen. Its opening also features my favourite sentence of White's: 'I am the first person in the house to awaken, but I am unsure of the implications.'
Any claim that White was a 'great' writer as opposed to a merely brilliant, sexually explicit or culturally pioneering one – all of which he undoubtedly was – has to rest on his two 'big' novels: The Farewell Symphony and The Married Man. The Farewell Symphony, which came out in 1997, is an account of one man's experience during the almost unbelievable transformation of gay male life that happened between the 70s and 90s. Rooted as it is in very specific times and places, this book couldn't be more deeply felt, more ambitious in its sense of contested cultural history – or simply better written. The Farewell Symphony and The Married Man, published in 2000, are a definitive refutation of the canard that 'gay' writing can only ever really be of interest to a 'gay' audience – and a significant part of the reason why that tired old argument is now so rarely heard.
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- The Independent
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Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
San Francisco chef loses everything after telling influencer she wasn't famous enough to get a free dinner
The San Francisco chef who got fired for telling a TikToker she was not famous enough to eat for free at his restaurant has lost everything. Luke Sung was outed last week as the chef at Kis Cafe who turned 'micro influencer' @itskarlabb away from an event at the restaurant because she didn't have enough followers. Not only was Sung fired over the incident, but now the restaurant has announced its permanent closure due to the ongoing drama and public backlash. It all started when Karla Marcotte posted a TikTok detailing her visit to Kis Cafe. She said she was left 'shaking' after being invited to a collaboration with the Bay Area wine bar. According to Marcotte, she expected to receive a free meal for her and her husband in exchange for posting a video about the restaurant on her channel – which, at the time, had 15,000 followers. However, after arriving at the restaurant, award–winning chef Sung questioned why Marcotte had been invited. In the video, which now has over 21 million views, Marcotte began, 'I just left a restaurant collaboration crying.' She explained that she had a TikTok collaboration with the new restaurant, located in Hayes Valley, that she was 'really excited for.' Marcotte arrived alone, as her husband was meeting her there later, and she spoke with the host before beginning to film around the restaurant. However, when she took her seat, she overheard a conversation between Sung and the host in which the chef was dissing her follower count, according to Marcotte. 'He is not having it,' Marcotte said – describing how the chef slammed the host for inviting her to the restaurant. 'This is Kis Cafe in Hayes Valley SF. The owner is Luke Sung. He also founded the restaurant Isa. Both restaurants named after his influencer kids, Isa Sung and Sunkis.' Once Sung and Marcotte were introduced, he confronted her about not having enough followers, and said her audience is not the kind of people he wants at his restaurant, which Marcotte interpreted to mean that he doesn't think her fans could afford to eat there. Sung then began to brag about his own accolades, and flexed his daughter's follower count – saying that Marcotte is not 'at that level.' After her husband arrived, Marcotte left without eating at the restaurant and went on to post the TikTok – without specifically naming the restaurant or the chef. However, TikTok sleuths were quickly able to figure out that the restaurant in question was Kis Cafe, and that chef was Sung. In the aftermath of her viral video, Yelp and Google reviews of Kis Cafe and Sung's former restaurant Isa have been flooded with one–star reviews. Multiple celebrities commented on Marcotte's video in support of the micro influencer. 'I'm so sorry queen. He spoke it into existence tho! We your audience will never ever be dining at Kis Cafe,' Alex Cooper of the Call Her Daddy podcast commented. 'Love how badly this has gone for them,' wrote Jameela Jamil. On Sunday, Sung issued a public apology. 'Hi everyone – I am Luke Sung (previous chef of Kis Cafe). 'It was important for me to first apologize to Karla privately and step away from Kis Cafe before publicly apologizing.' 'Karla – I am truly sorry for my actions towards you. I was condescending, hurtful, and intimidating. You did not deserve to be made feel less then or unimportant,' he wrote. The apology was posted on the Kis Cafe Instagram account, because Sung has no public social media pages. Though, the restaurant specified in the caption that he is 'no longer affiliated with the restaurant in any way or a co–owner.' 'I also want to be clear the responsibility of this whole situation is mine alone and my behavior should not be a reflection on anyone else who works there, or anyone who is related to me,' Sung wrote. 'I truly care about my staff and am devastated that my actions have impacted both them and their families.' Sung also addressed his staff and family – especially his daughter, who he dragged into the situation by touting her follower count.. 'I am sorry I put you in this position,' he wrote. 'I've failed you in the worst way.' On Saturday, Kis Cafe announced it had been 'a pleasure serving our neighbors and community,' but that 'tonight is our last night.' The restaurant has closed, permanently.
