Chaos: A Novella and Stories

By Edmund White

Book Overview

When a respected older man clings to the values and mores of the liberated 1970s, when he pursues sex relentlessly and his reputation suffers, Chaos ensues. White explores different aspects of aging,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786720050
• ISBN13: 9780786720057
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Running Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

More treats from Edmund White

I read novels related to the gay male experience pretty voraciously. I think Edmund White is my single favorite writer. His prose is so perfectly executed that the books fly by too quickly. He really made me laugh with this novella (the other stories are nice, but not quite the same). I share many of his foibles and obsessions, although what he considers economic stress would feel stable to me. The clearly autobiographically-based writing continues in this novella, and he's very funny in this one about failing memories and repeating elements of stories, more or less shrugging them off. His writing is like good ballet - only through his years of reading and study of the art of literary writing can he make it look so easy. I almost wish it were harder to read and I'm tempted to reread all his autobiographical "fiction" just for the pleasure. I would argue he is one of our relatively few real "men of letters."

The Pleasures of His Company

Edmund White remains one of the reigning masters of committing the English language into models of communication in his intelligent, witty, wise, and compassionate novels. While some critics and admirers tend to place CHAOS: A NOVELLA AND STORIES in a lesser important ring of his work, for this reader this book works on every level. Yes, some of the ideas on which the stories are based have been the nidus for other of his more famous works, the current work (especially CHAOS) has polished the atmosphere of the plight of the aging gay man to a jewel-like presence. Reading Edmund White is as much a pleasure of the joy of reading superb prose, as it is an entry into the fascinating lives of his created characters. In 'Chaos' we meet Jack, a man whose once successful life as a writer afforded him the luxuries of satisfying his physical needs at will. Now, his career careening down toward desperation, Jack finds his gratification in hiring men for sex. His 'employees' include a strangely assembled ex-Mormon lad named Seth and an Italian club dancer Giuseppe, both of whom, while fond of Jack's kindness and patronage, always demand cash on the line, no matter the frequency of their daily episodes with Jack. Jack's cultural needs are played out in fascinating asides, moments when the intellect must emerge and steal the podium from sensuality. And it is precisely in these moments that White exercises his facility with the language. 'Both statements were more or less true, but these half-shades became startlingly emphatic colors only because it was easier to write declarations than nuances - and sentences, once awakened on the page, began to rattle and writhe in their own direction, dangerous and hissing and no longer submissive to meaning'. Each of the four stories carry the theme of aging, of recollection, of longing for the unattainable made out of grasp because of the erosion of time. 'Time was speeding up just as it was running out, like the last of the water draining form the sink'. But the manner in which Edmund White carves these tales is not one of desperation, of nihilism. His characters retain the sensual longing yet the inherent dignity of the Marschallin of 'Der Rosenkavalier'. And the stories are just about that operatic. Reading Edmund White is a feast, beautifully prepared. Grady Harp, October 07

Always interesting, sometimes titillating, and ultimately satisfying.

I've been a fan of Edmund White ever since States of Desire which I received as a gift at a surprise birthday party when I was much younger and starting to come out. As is sometimes the case, Chaos is not an easy read, not only because of Edmund White's superior command of language, but also because he captures the truth of middle-aged gay men of my generation so well. I found myself wondering how much of what I was reading was reflective of the author and those he has known in his life and how much was from his imagination. Regardless, the book felt honest and accurate, even though fiction.

When Life Implodes

White, Edmund. "Chaos: A Novella and Stories", Carroll and Graf, 2007. When Life Implodes Amos Lassen and Literary Pride Edmund White is one of the deans of gay literature as well as a highly respected author in his own right. He is the author of over 20 books and has won numerous awards. Three of his novels are autobiographical and in his new book "Chaos" A Novella and Stories", he takes a look at what happens when gay men age. Before he wrote "Chaos", White published "My Lives: An Autobiography" and it and the new book cover roughly the same material. In the novella "Chaos", we meet Jack, a 66 year old university faulty member whose claim to fame is the blurbs that he writes for other's books. He worries a great deal about sex and money. And like other older gay men, he lusts after those who are younger than himself. He is not above paying for sexual favors and spends a lot of time cruising "Craig's List". When he meets Seth, a young blonde Mormon, he is quick to take out his wallet and pay him every time they have sex. In fact even when they become friends, Jack continues to pay. But Seth is only the first of many. What Jack wants in his life is culture as well as good food and men, men, men. But we also learn that Jack is not just a sexual animal, he is also a good friend--we learn this when we read of how he reacts when he learns that a good female friend is diagnosed with cancer. One of the stories "Give It Up for Billy", looks at aging from a different aspect as does "A Good Sport". Aging has always been an important idea in gay culture and White looks at it deeply and personally. White, as usual, is iconoclastic ad he writes about maturity in much the same way he wrote about youth. White looks at growing older not as a bane but rather as a fact of life--it happens to all of us and it is something we must accept. There is a certain guilt felt as one grows more mature and this is evident in White. I found it hard to sympathize with White's characters. I am a middle aged gay man and I am not lonely nor do I wallow in self pity or escape through opium or by paying prostitutes. However, the beauty of White's language males the plots of his stories seem unimportant. All in all, this is a satisfying read and unfortunately it is very true. I have read some really bad reviews and I think this is because facing maturity is ever a pretty thought. Yet the world is not always pretty and Edmund White succeeds in telling a story that is not pretty in the most beautiful of ways.

A Chaotic Life

Edmund White in his novella CHAOS covers much of the material he wrote about in his recent MY LIVES: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY so it's probably safe to assume that some of this story is autobiographical. Jack is 66, teaches at a university, is more in demand for blurbs he writes for other writers' books -- although since his computer crashed, he often has to ask for their last names-- occasionally gets one of his old novels translated, and spends a lot of his time worrying about his dwindling income and his eternal quest for sex. He of course is attracted to men 40 years his junior and prefers Craig's List rather than Silverdaddies as a source for finding them. He is willing to pay for sex; he mets Seth, a tall, blond Mormon with aspirations of being a writer and has no problem dishing out over a hundred dollars for each session with him even after they become friends. Then there is a young Italian, etc., etc., etc. Jack lives for "a cultural life, good food and a supply of available men." He, however, is also a good friend, perhaps the saving grace of this man with a truly chaotic life, particularly to his friend Marie-Helene who is diagnosed with cancer. Regardless of whether or not you sympathize with White's characters, you have to marvel at his language. His prose can be as dense as anything Henry James wrote and as transparent as the writing of Truman Capote. His description of memory loss, particularly forgetting names, is both scary and sounds too familiar: "He made lists of things to do but forgot to consult them. Nothing yet was completely lost, but he had to write down his appointments right away or they would escape him an hour after he'd worked them out in detail and he'd have to make a humiliating second call ('Did we say Tuesday at three?' 'No, a week from Thursday at four.'). You also have to grudgingly admire White's chutzpah for letting Marie-Helene describe Alan Hollinghurst as the greatest critic "if he weren't already the greatest novelist." Aren't White and Hollinghurst good friends? In addition to CHAOS, there are three short stories, two about older men and younger "boys," and a third one about a lonely adolescent who listens to classical music in the 1950's. Mr. White supposedly is working on a novel about the writer Stephen Crane. We can only hope that gets published soon.