Alfred Jarry: The Man With the Axe [Paperback]

Nigey Lennon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1990 | ISBN-10: 0867193824 | ISBN-13: 978-0867193824

Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) lived fast, died young, and refused to accept objective reality. He was a major influence on artistic movements such as Dada and Surrealism, and his nihilistic 1896 play, "Ubu Roi", is acknowledged as the turning point in modern drama. In "The Man with the Axe", author Nigey Lennon and illustrator/underground comix legend Bill Griffith take an appropriately surrealistic graphic approach to chronicling the absurd life of this seminal figure. As the first-ever non-academic biography of Jarry, "The Man with the Axe" has been legendary since its initial publication in 1984. AirStream Books is proud to re-introduce it in e-book format to a new generation of readers. Features full-color cover art and numerous black-and-white illustrations by Bill Griffith, as well as a hilarious short story, "The Pataphysician", by Nigey Lennon.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Last Gasp of San Francisco (December 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867193824
• ISBN-13: 978-0867193824
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #936,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for research or fun., June 20, 2000

By 

Chad A. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alfred Jarry: The Man With the Axe (Paperback)

An exceptional and comprehensive overview of the life of Pa Ubu himself! This book is very well researched and written (and illustrated!) with a sense of humor that Jarry would have appreciated. "Man With An Axe" is by far the best source of biographical info on Jarry in English. Jarry fanatics (especially those that cannot read French) should look no further.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great illumination of an obscure artistic figure..., September 17, 2006

By 

David Alston (Chapel Hill, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alfred Jarry: The Man With the Axe (Paperback)

A fantastic source of info on Alfred Jarry, a genuinely seminal if somewhat forgotten artistic figure.

Jarry was the deviser of 'pataphysics' - a sort of science of surrealism, and lead a rather anarchic existance in fin-de-seacle Paris - in many ways a creative forefather to the varied likes of William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson. Jarry was best known for the riot-provoking play "Ubu Roi," which, some 80 years down the road, inspired the name (and some of the stage presence) of the band Pere Ubu.

Lennon's biography is accessible and well-researched, with a number of line drawings as illustrations, in the spirit of Jarry himself. A fascinating read.

-David Alston

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mad about Moulin Rouge? Read on!, June 1, 2009

By 

Alan H. Ware - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alfred Jarry: The Man With the Axe (Paperback)

By far, the most accessible biography of Alfred Jarry and his times. If you loved the 'Children of the Revolution' as depicted in the Baz Luhrman film of Moulin Rouge, then read on!

With the brilliant and quirky illustrations of Bill Griffiths, Nigey Lennon's book is an entertaining and thought provoking look into the genius of this little madman from Laval. She captures the spirit of Paris during the belle epoque, it's artists, and later goes into Jarry's Pataphysics.

For those of you whose tried to decipher Jarry from Roger Shattucks 'The Banquet Years' (a brilliant but dry study of the same period) I highly recommend you peruse Alfred Jarry: Man With An Axe. . . it's a great book!