Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction. Anorectic Hedonism: A Reader’s Guide to Reading Boyishly; Novel or a Philosophical Study? Am I a Novelist? 1
5. One. My Book Has a Disease 23
6. Two. Winnicott’s ABCs and String Boy 57
7. Three. Splitting: The Unmaking of Childhood and Home 77
8. Four. Pulling Ribbons from Mouths: Roland Barthes’s Umbilical Referent 129
9. Five. Nesting: The Boyish Labor of J. M. Barrie 163
10. Six. Childhood Swallows: Lartigue, Proust, and a Little Wilde 253
11. Seven. Mouth Wide Open for Proust: “A Sort of Puberty of Sorrow” 315
12. Eight. Soufflé/Souffle 349
13. Nine. Kissing Time 367
14. Ten. Beautiful, Boring, and Blue: The Fullness of Proust’s Search and Akerman’s 397
15. Conclusion. Boys: “To Think a Part of One’s Body” 433
16. Illustrations 441
17. Notes 455
18. Index 519