A meticulously researched biography of Jean Genet, one of France's most notorious writers. Acclaimed novelist and essayist Edmund White illuminates Genet's experiences in the worlds of crime, homosexu
This is the first truly representative collection of texts by Helene Cixous. The substantial pieces range broadly across her entire oeuvre, and include essays, works of fiction, lectures and drama. Ar
George Bataille (1867-1962) is widely recognized as one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. This is the first book in English to examine Bataille's work as a whole. It offers an a
Contains the Social Contract, as well as the first English translation of Rousseau's early Discourse on the Virtue Most Necessary for a Hero, numerous previously untranslated political fragments, and
A professor of literature at the ecole normale in Arras, Georges Hyvernaud (1902-1983) was called up at the start of World War II, and given the rank of lieutenant. He was captured with his unit in 19
The world fame of Samuel Beckett is due to a combination of high academic esteem and immense popularity. An innovator in prose fiction to rival Joyce, his plays have been the most influential in modern theatre history. As an author in both English and French and a writer for the page and the stage, Beckett has been the focus for specialist treatment in each of his many guises, but there have been few attempts to provide a conspectus view. This book, first published in 1994, provides thirteen introductory essays on every aspect of Beckett's work, some paying particular attention to his most famous plays (e.g. Waiting for Godot and Endgame) and his prose fictions (e.g. the 'trilogy' and Murphy). Other essays tackle his radio and television drama, his theatre directing and his poetry, followed by more general issues such as Beckett's bilingualism and his relationship to the philosophers. Reference material is provided at the front and back of the book.
George Bataille (1867-1962) is widely recognized as one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. This is the first book in English to examine Bataille's work as a whole. It offers an a
Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) was one of the most respected writers in the French language. Best known as the author of Memoirs of Hadrian and The Abyss, she was awarded countless literary honors,
Stendhal (Marie Henri Beyle), the author of two of France's great novels of the post-Napoleon Restoration - The Red and the Black (1830) and The Charterhouse of Parma (1839) - once wrote that his idea
The death of Edmond Jabes in January 1991 silenced one of the most compelling voices of the postmodern, post-Holocaust era. Jabes's importance as a thinker, philosopher, and Jewish theologian cannot b
Recipient of the Grand Prix of the Acad?mie Fran?aise, Wind, Sand and Stars captures the grandeur, danger, and isolation of flight. Its exciting account of air adventure, combined with lyrical prose
This volume of Simone de Beauvoir's legendary autobiography presents Beauvoir at the height of her international fame and portrays her inner struggle with aging. Beauvoir recounts her difficult long-d
Makes available in a paperbound edition the book first published in 1987 under the title An Extraordinary Woman; Selected Writings of Germaine de Stael. Translated and with an introduction by Vivian
Contains the entire First Discourse, contemporary attacks on it, Rousseau's replies to his critics, and his summary of the debate in his preface to Narcissus. A number of these texts have never before
An important literary and philosophical figure, Georges Bataille has had a significant influence on other French writers, such as Foucault, Derrida and Baudrillard. The Thirst for Annihilation is the
In this book, Barney explores her family tree, chronicles her friendships and associations through reprinted correspondence and recreated conversations, and evokes the golden age of her salon in galle
Sebastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort (1740-1794), whom Nietzsche called the "wittiest of all moralists," is now known for little more than brillian aphorisms that captivated a long line of thinkers, from S
"Not only one of the frankest of autobiographies, but also a brilliantly written book, Leiris' Manhood mingles memories, philosophic reflections, sexual revelation, meditations on bullfighting, and t
