''The Beautiful Room Is Empty'' is a 1988 semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (born 1940) is an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and an essayist on literary and social topics. Since 1999 he has been a professor at Princeton University. France made him (and later ) de l'Ordr ...

. It is the second of a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of novels, being preceded by ''

A Boy's Own Story ''A Boy's Own Story'' is a 1982 semi-autobiographical novel by Edmund White. Overview ''A Boy’s Own Story'' is the first of a trilogy of novels, describing a boy's coming of age and documenting a young man's experience of homosexuality in the ...

'' (1982) and followed by ''

The Farewell Symphony ''The Farewell Symphony'' is a 1997 semi-autobiographical novel by Edmund White. It is the third of a trilogy of novels, being preceded by '' A Boy's Own Story'' (1982) and '' The Beautiful Room Is Empty'' (1988). It depicts the later adulth ...

'' (1997). It depicts the adolescence and early adulthood of its protagonist, and documents his experience of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

in the 1950s and 1960s, ending with the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

of 1969.

External links

New York Times review
American autobiographical novels 1988 American novels 1980s LGBT novels Novels by Edmund White Alfred A. Knopf books Lambda Literary Award-winning works Novels with gay themes American LGBT novels {{1980s-bio-novel-stub