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Poetry. Bilingual edition translated from the French by Aaron Prevots. In EUROPES, published in French in 2005 and appearing here as a complete bilingual edition, Jacques Reda takes the reader on a leisurely, lyrical journey across the continent, from the bucolic pastures of Switzerland to the urban emptiness of industrial Dresden, and from the monumental churches of Ravenna to the colorful streets of his beloved Paris. Reda's encounters and observations are at once exhilarating and familiar, subverting preconceived notions of travel and home, and providing an unforgettable glimpse of a landscape in flux. With its sumptuous blend of poetry and prose, EUROPES is an endearing and idiosyncratic travelogue.
In Jacques Réda: Being There, Almost, Aaron Prevots studies the work of this major contemporary French writer since the 1950s—poetry, novels, literary essays, short prose, jazz histories. He particularly examines Réda’s explorations of place, including how the ‘world’s energy’ becomes the ideal dancing partner, poetry incarnate in one’s arms. Réda embodies ‘being there, almost’ because he wanders with great wisdom yet renounces any glory in this metaphorical dance. He aligns us with the outer world’s rhythms and time’s passage. Fleeting waves of perception create a voluptuous, unified whole. In considering the arc of Réda’s works from 1952-2015, Aaron Prevots locates a progression from post-Baudelairean flânerie to commemoration of childhood, classical antiquity, fellow writers, jazz, physics, swing, theology, and trains.
Fiction. Translated from the French by Aaron Prevots. RETURN TO CALM, published in French in 1989 and appearing here as a full bilingual edition, immerses the reader in Jacques Reda's lyrical observations of the everyday. Its seven distinct sections offer reflections on youth, on travel in open country, on seasons, on Paris and on remembrance itself. They provide a rhythmic initiation into the outer world's beauty, through the eyes of a writer deeply attuned to the passing of time and space.
Jacques Reda leads us through the arrondissements and suburbs of Paris and beyond in a journey that moves to the rhythm of walking, of trains, of the hopeful tempo of upbeat jazz. This is the first translation of Reda's prose into English. "Meditative and lyrical, ironic and elegant" -- Scotland on Sunday "His book is an elliptical tribute to Paris, but something more -- a thank-you for being briefly a spectator in an abundant world" -- Architect's Journal
The idea of the 'project' crosses generic, disciplinary and cultural frontiers. At a time when writers and artists are increasingly describing their practices as 'projects', remarkably little critical attention has been paid to the actual idea of the 'project'. This collection of essays responds to an urgent need by suggesting a framework for evaluating the notion of the project in the light of various modernist and postmodernist cultural practices, drawn mainly but not exclusively from the French-speaking domain. The overview offered by this volume promises to makes an original and thought-provoking contribution to contemporary literary, artistic and cultural criticism.
The fabric of the western literary tradition is not always predictable. In one wayward strand, waywardness itself is at work, delay becomes almost predictable, triviality is auspicious, and failure is cheerfully admired. This is loiterature. Loiterature is the first book to identify this strand, to follow its path through major works and genres, and to evaluate its literary significance. ø By offering subtle resistance to the laws of "good social order," loiterly literature blurs the distinctions between innocent pleasure and harmless relaxation on the one hand, and not-so-innocent intent on the other. The result is covert social criticism that casts doubt on the values good citizens hold d...
Literary texts and buildings have always represented space, narrated cultural and political values, and functioned as sites of personal and collective identity. In the twentieth century, new forms of narrative have represented cultural modernity, political idealism and architectural innovation. Writing the Modern City explores the diverse and fascinating relationships between literature, architecture and modernity and considers how they have shaped the world today. This collection of thirteen original essays examines the ways in which literature and architecture have shaped a range of recognisably ‘modern’ identities. It focuses on the cultural connections between prose narratives – th...
An Unsung Cat explores the life and music of jazz saxophonist, Warne Marsh. Safford Chamberlain follows the artist from his start in youth bands like the Hollywood Canteen Kids and The Teen-Agers through his studies under Lennie Tristano, his brilliant playing of the 1950s, his disappearance from public view in the 1960s, his re-emergence in the 1970s, and his belated recognition in the 1980s as one of the finest tenor players of the post-World War II era. Through interviews with the Marsh family and friends, Chamberlain offers an inside view of Marsh's private life, including his struggles with drug abuse. Detailed analysis of outstanding performances complements the personal story, while a...
We’ll See, originally published in France in 1995 as On Verra Bien by le dé bleu, is Georges L. Godeau’s first book translated into English. This is a collection of ninety brief prose poems, most of which focus on ordinary people and events. Godeau’s prose poems are disarmingly and deceptively simple, yet resonate with each other.