7.6 /10 1 Votes
3.8/5 AbeBooks Language French | 3.7/5 Goodreads Country France Originally published 26 October 2004 OCLC 401159442 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Original title Autobiographie érotique Publisher Editions Payot & Rivages Publication date 26 October 2004 (France) Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Genres Autobiographical Fiction, Gay literature, Travel literature, Romance novel Similar Sex and Isolation, Pacific Agony, NYC go‑go, Report on myself, Hate: A Romance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Romanian: Story of an Obsession is a true-to-life memoir by Bruce Benderson. The autobiographical text describes Benderson's encounters and journeys with a male Romanian street hustler through Romania and Hungary, whom he meets while on a journalism assignment and falls in love with. The plot is intertwined with a travelogue of Romania and references to Romanian history and culture, such as the life of the artist Constantin Brâncuși, the writer Panait Istrati and the love affair between Romania's interbellum king, Carol II, and his mistress, Magda Lupescu.
The book was initially published in French, in 2004, under the title Autobiographie érotique (Erotic autobiography). It won the prestigious Prix de Flore award in 2004, thus making Benderson the first US author to win the prize. In 2006, it was published in English, released in the United States and the United Kingdom.