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Genet

Genet

Summary

FROM THE AUTHOR OF A BOY'S OWN STORY AND THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY

'A superb introduction to the great novelist and playwright, vagabond, thief and convict, and to the brutal childhood from which he mined his remarkable vision' J G Ballard, Books of the Year, Sunday Times


Interviewing lovers, friends, publishers and acquaintances, Edmund White draws from material, letters (a number published here for the first time) and other original sources to explore the perverse extremes of Jean Genet's life and writing. Separating the fact from the mythology which was fostered by Genet himself, White's portrait is a deftly painted celebration of French Literature's most modern rogue.

Reviews

  • Edmund White has done a scrupulous job in uncovering the truth-His best achievement is to analyse and evaluate Genet's contribution to literature and to clarify his originality. He points up his inspired verbal invention and dense, impacted prose with many a felicitous quotation. This biography is elegant meticulous and wholly satisfying
    Sunday Telegraph

About the author

Edmund White

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