100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Enjoy overnight NZ-wide delivery from our NZ-owned independent bookstore! 🎉

The Humble Lover

2.93 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 508 ratings, 100 reviews)
Brief Description
A wildly hilarious and irreverent novel about a rich octogenarian and the young ballerino he covets—Edmund White at his funniest and most unrestrained. Aldwych West, an eighty-year-old modern-day aristocrat living alone in his Manhattan townhouse, is used to having what he wants. When he sets eyes... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

From National Book Award-honored author Edmund White, a wildly hilarious and irreverent novel about a rich older man who falls in love with a young ballerino.

A wildly hilarious and irreverent novel about a rich octogenarian and the young ballerino he covets— Edmund White at his funniest and most unrestrained.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A wildly hilarious and irreverent novel about a rich octogenarian and the young ballerino he covets—Edmund White at his funniest and most unrestrained.

Aldwych West, an eighty-year-old modern-day aristocrat living alone in his Manhattan townhouse, is used to having what he wants. When he sets eyes on August Dupond, a strong, stunningly beautiful soloist in the New York City Ballet, he decides he must have him.

Soon they strike up a closeness that falls between the blurry lines of friendship, sponsorship, and love, and August moves in with Aldwych. But eventually, August starts bringing home other men, and a formidable woman in Aldwych's circle named Ernestine also takes a deep interest in the young, enchanting star.

Messy entanglements and fierce rivalries ensue, and the result is an unforgettable, outrageous tragicomedy that explores the many layers of love and sexual desire as only Edmund White can.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781639735273

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 October 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Edmund White (1940-2025) authored more than thirty works of fiction, memoir, and nonfiction, including the novels A Boy’s Own Story, Our Young Man, and The Humble Lover; the memoirs City Boy, Inside a Pearl, and The Unpunished Vice; The Flâneur, a tour through Paris; the literary biographies Genet and Rimbaud; and many more. His most recent work, the sexual autobiography The Loves of My Life, was a New York Times Editors' Choice. He received the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation.

Also by Edmund White

View all
  • The Loves of My Life
    With his trademark wit, candour, and relentlessly perceptive eye, Edmund White, the beloved 85-year-old ‘paterfamilias of queer literature’ (New York Times), delves unflinchingly into the aspect of his life which has inspired so many of his masterpieces: sex. Documenting everything from covert fumblings in the repressed American Midwest of the 1950s to the Arcadian gay debauchery of New York in...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Loves of My Life
    ***A TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025***'All the no-holds-barred candour you'd expect . . . A hoot, and surprisingly touching' THE TIMES, BOOKS OF THE YEAR'Trousers down from page one ... NSFW' THE TIMES'The gayest book ever written' HENRY HOKE, author of Open Throat'Daddy's diary fully delivers' JEREMY ATHERTON LIN, author of Gay Bar--------------------------------------------With his trademark wit, candour and...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Nocturnes for the King of Naples
    The letters of a seducer to the great love of his life, a sensual tour-de-force by 'the paterfamilias of queer literature' (New York Times). 'Can't sleep tonight. Was lying in bed reading the biography of a great man whose genius deserted him...The genius who deserted me was you.' In a series of late-night letters, gorgeous, funny, filled with memory, sensuality,...
    Paperback
    $4900
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Inside a Pearl
    ______________ ‘Paris may well be White’s pearl, but he is in fact the real pearl ... This wonderfully eccentric, conversational and personalised cultural history contains the essence of Edmund White … Entertaining and wry, White is worldly-wise and wise’ - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times ‘Edmund White writing about his Paris years, with walk-on parts for Catherine Deneuve, Yves Saint-Laurent and...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Flaneur
    WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ALEXANDER CHEE 'A stylish, deftly erudite and enormously diverting book’ - Sunday Telegraph ‘An artfully aimless pleasure cruise around Paris’ - Guardian 'White's genius as a flâneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation' - New Yorker A unique and eclectic view of Paris through the eyes...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Boy's Own Story
    A Boy's Own Story traces an unnamed narrator's coming-of-age during the 1950s. It was his power that stupefied me and made me regard my knowledge as nothing more than hired cleverness he might choose to show off at a dinner party. Beset by aloof parents, a cruel sister, and relentless mocking from his peers, the unnamed narrator struggles with his...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • A Previous Life
    ______________ 'Elegant, filthy – and quite possibly the queerest thing you will read all year.' - Guardian 'Intriguing and inventive.' - Electric Literature, "Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of the Year" 'A dizzyingly enticing and kaleidoscopic take on the spectrum of sexual experiences.' - Publishers Weekly, starred review _____________ A daring, category-confounding, and ruthlessly funny novel from National Book Award honoured...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Chaos
    ‘One of the best writers of my generation’ - John Irving ‘One of the three or four most virtuosic living writers of sentences in the English language' - Dave Eggers What happens when a life implodes? When a respected older man, a product of the liberated 1970s, is incapable of cleaning up his act for the twenty-first century? When he...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Genet
    'This biography is elegant, meticulous, and wholly satisfying' — Sunday Telegraph From the author of A Boy's Own Story and The Farewell Symphony 'A superb introduction to the great novelist and playwright, vagabond, thief, and convict, and to the brutal childhood from which he mined his remarkable vision' — J.G. Ballard, Books of the Year, Sunday Times Interviewing lovers, friends,...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Married Man
    A searingly honest love story told in White's characteristically beautiful, heart-breaking prose. Poignant and challenging... A love story, yet with an ambition and sweep that make it much more than that... subtle, complex, unsparing and profound — Daily Telegraph Austin Smith, a middle-aged American, works out in a Paris gym—an ordinary day, except that he catches the eye of a...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.