Edmund White. Sacred Monsters. Magnus Books, 2011. Hardcover. 255p. $24.95. 978-1-936833-11-5.
In this collection of essays from 1984 to 2011 by an American gay author, most of the writings have appeared elsewhere, primarily in the New York Review of Books. The one on Reynolds Price which is not listed as previously published also appeared there. White explains in the Preface that the title of the collection comes from the French expression monstre sacré, meaning someone who, despite faults and eccentricities, is above criticism.
The essays are not scholarly nor do they employ any form of literary theory, but they are learned, witty, and insightful. Also they are frequently full of detail about the lives of their subjects. For example, the reader learns about the personal relationship between William James and Howard Sturgis in the chapter entitled “Portrait of a Sissy” and that Edith Wharton had a kinder view of the Sturgis novel Belchamber than did James.
These are the views of an important generation, the one born in the pre-Stonewall period but largely coming to adulthood in the period of the gay rights and sexual liberation movements before moving into the time of AIDS and the present. The essays on Truman Capote and David Hockey are particularly good at giving a direct look in on that world. The other essays do so indirectly by showing what White values in literature and in a life.
It is hard to imagine the exact use of such a collection of essays in an academic library because budgets are being cut and almost all of the essays can be gotten from subscription databases. A library may want to retain the essays in one piece as history, a way of representing Edmund White’s views of a gay world now passing.
Clearly an academic library wanting to hold all of Edmund White’s writings would want the book. It would also be a good addition to any public library collection where the essays are not easily gotten from other sources.
Reviewer: David Woolwine, Associate Professor
Library Services, Hofstra University, Hempstead