Book: Jack Holmes and His Friend by Edmund White

When I got this book at the library, I thought it was nonfiction. Not so; it's a novel about Jack Holmes and his friend, Will.

The book begins at the University of Michigan in the 1960s where Jack is a student. After graduation, he moves to New York City and begins working for a magazine. He meets Will and falls in love, the problem being that Will is heterosexual. Jack has started to discover and accept that he is a homosexual and soon is into the scene of bar/random pickups and one-night stands with men. It's a pretty loose scene in NYC on the cusp of the AIDs cataclysm.

Will moves on, marries and has a family. Part of this novel is Will's voice and part is Jack's.

It's good, with a beginning and an end. Not all novels have acceptable satisfying endings, but this one does.

I learned more about the world of homosexuality and how it is the same but also different from that of heterosexuality. Because Mr. White is such a good writer, the characters are complex, conflicted human beings seeking satisfaction and contentment and love in their lives. As do we all....

There is a wonderful black and white photo on the dust jacket which attracted me in the first place.

Edmund White teaches at Princeton and has written both fiction and nonfiction. So many books; not enough time....

"He felt fussed by his drunken, seemingly breezy conversation with Will. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the cold windowpane. When he shut his eyes, time and space flowed around him....Will was a bad habit it seemed he'd never get over. Jack felt like one of those courtiers who back up when leaving the king's presence...Will was rich and Jack was comfortable. But if they didn't watch out, they'd become dim and devious in their desires, mediocre in their accomplishments. He laughed at himself and stood up, sheathed in his unfamiliar pajamas. He went to the kitchen for a glass of water."