Edmund White, novelist and great chronicler of gay life, dies aged 85

The American essayist, playwright and author of books including A Boy's Own Story and The Married Man, has died

Edmund White, the American writer, playwright and essayist who attracted acclaim for his semi-autobiographical novels such as A Boy's Own Story - and who literally wrote the book on gay sex, with the pioneering The Joy of Gay Sex - has died aged 85.

His death was confirmed to the Guardian by his agent Bill Clegg on Wednesday.