“Perhaps Because I Lived in a World Made of Words”

I suggest that Edmund White moves away from the traditional queer autobiographical narratives with The Unpunished Vice, and creates a unique “post-gay” autobiographical writing, as he puts the queer voice at the center of the narrative, who articulates his opinions regarding literary criticism, history, and canon formation. In doing so, I interrogate how White follows and deviates from his predecessor, Christopher Isherwood, who similarly focused on the varied roles of books as mediators, catalysts, and sites that bring in themes of queer reading and writing, as well as the elevated and mundane everyday roles of reading in queer and non-queer lives. Moreover, the chapter also focusses on the materiality of books, through which White constructs a rich, profound, and layered network of friends, allies, mentors, and lovers, and articulates his ruminations on queer literary history.