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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Alex Needham

Edmund White on lust, love and literature: ‘I’d had sex with 3,000 men. A peer asked: “Why so few?”’

American novelist Edmund White at his residence in Chelsea , New York in 2024
‘I thought it was quite normal to take a break from writing and have sex with 20 men in a truck’ … American novelist Edmund White at home in Chelsea, New York, December 2024. Photograph: Amir Hamja/The Guardian

‘I think the French are best in bed, because they’re the most perverted,” the great American author Edmund White divulges on a videocall from his book-crammed apartment in Chelsea, New York. In France, he says: “All kinds of vices are allowed and encouraged. Although I’ve had wonderful sex with English people,” he adds, kindly.

Is there any sex act at which he would draw the line? “Um, no,” says the 85-year-old, barely pausing to consider the question.

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