THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY

New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 413 pages. The second novel in the author's Gay Trilogy. One of Edmund White's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents "The Farewell Symphony". The third and final volume of the author's ground-breaking trilogy. The latter was inaugurated by "A Boy's Own Story" (1982) and followed by "The Beautiful Room Is Empty" (1988). The novel deals with the devastation and decimation of an entire community by AIDS, a human loss as much as a creative one, from which American culture has not recovered if one considers, even casually, the abject mediocrity of the arts and literature in our time. Whereas the second volume's title came from Kafka, the present one alludes to the heartbreakingly beautiful Haydn symphony, in which the orchestra members play in unison at first. Then the players physically leave the stage one by one until there is no one left as the symphony comes to The End, a poignant metaphor for the way AIDS removed from the world's stage far too many of the author's beloved friends, lovers, and colleagues. The novel is a panorama of gay American life during the last two decades of the 20th century, as seen through Edmund White's penetrating yet tender gaze. In fictional terms that are borne out by what actually happened, White shows that the glacial response of the Reagan Administration to AIDS - including its outright denial of AIDS' very existence - was deliberate (therefore pure evil) because the gay community had become uncomfortably powerful and influential. White also asserts, not just insinuates, that the campaign was shamefully conducted with the tacit or explicit collusion of prominent figures who were themselves gay. Written in Edmund White's effortless, supple, and immaculate prose, which makes the tragedy somewhat bearable. "To look only at what a single English sentence can, in White's hands, become is to stand entranced before sensuous grace" (Cynthia Ozick). An absolute "must-have" title for Edmund White collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed and inscribed in black ink-pen on the half-title page by the author: "For Patrick, Thanks for a great day! Edmund White". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, who is named, is unmistakably personally known to the author, whose inscription is sweet and revealing. It is one of the best signed copies we have ever seen as such. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are in multiple subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994 for "Genet: A Biography". Anointed by Vladimir Nabokov as his American successor. One of the finest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER EDMUND WHITE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679434771.