In his two most celebrated novels, A BOY'S OWN STORY and THE BEAUTIFUL ROOM IS EMPTY, Edmund White charted the story of an American homosexual through the 1960s and 1970s. They received huge acclaim, and the third in the sequence - which covers the 80s - is long-awaited. In THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY Edmund White has drwan together all his experience of gay life in the 80's - sexual adventure, cultural explosion, travel, gossip, the political shifts of the time, love - and transformed them into a wonderfully witty and moving chronicle. Set in Europe and the US, and including portraits (thinly disguised) of some of the key figures of the time. THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY opens up a world which feels painfully and fascinatingly real. This novel will be a major literary event.