Chapter 14: Teaching Edmund White
I taught my last class for the day of Edmund White’s Life in Literature, discussing the themes in his classical masterpiece titled The Beautiful Room is Empty. Such themes included a coming of age story, an awakening of s****l identity, and insight of social, moral, and emotional understandings of one’s self. Most of my students thought the novel breathtaking and a psychological exploration of self-discovery. Those who were less thrilled of the literature simply read it to obtain a passing grade on the exam.
Following my lecture, without his son in tow, Matthew Hildebrand made his way up to my desk, stood over me, and asked, “Mr. Avery, may I ask you a frank question?”
I looked up from reviewing a paragraph in the White novel and nodded. “Of course. Ple
