Restless Youth: Autobiography

In this eloquent volume, Green (b. 1903) evokes the years he spent as a young man in Paris after he returned from studying at the University of Virginia. During that time he finally acted on his sexual feelings toward men and began a writing career. Although born to American parents, Green was brought up in France, and his first published work, an attack on the lack of religious fervor in France, was written in French, as is the rest of his immense literary output. During those years, Green was tormented by the conflict between his religious convictions and his sexual feelings, which he satisfied in passionate encounters with men he met on the streets of Paris. Haunted by the love he felt for Mark, a fellow student in the U.S., Green was still unable to declare himself when Mark visited Paris. Green's unhappiness was temporarily relieved by the publication of his first novel, Mont Cinere. (Mar.)