Exiled in Paris: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett, and Others on the Left Bank [Paperback]

James Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2003

Exiled in Paris provides a compelling look at the personalities who fueled the literary and philosophical dramas of postwar Paris: James Baldwin, Alexander Trocchi, Boris Vian, Maurice Girodias, and many others. James Campbell provides a fresh look at Samuel Beckett's early career; reveals the facts behind the publication of the scandalous best-seller The Story of O; and tells the poignant story of Richard Wright's years in exile. He captures the sense of deliverance that Wright, so accustomed to daily humiliations in his own country, experienced during his sojourn on the Left Bank, where, for the first time in his life, he was treated as a great man of letters. Here, too, are all the circumstances surrounding Wright's mysterious death, which many close to him regarded as suspicious.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

English author Campbell (Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin) has loosely strung together interesting anecdotes about the group of expatriate writers and artists who lived and worked on the Left Bank after WWII. Several of them were African Americans, including Wright and Baldwin, who were fleeing the racist climate in the U.S. Drawing on interviews and published reminiscences, the author details the feud between the two novelists, fueled by literary rivalry and paranoia. He also focuses on the history of Olympia Press, founded by Maurice Girodias, who with the assistance of Glasgow writer Alexander Trocchi published Lolita, The Story of O and other controversial books. Campbell successfully evokes the flavor of Parisian cafe life in this memoir that will be of great interest to literature devotees. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Campbell (Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin, LJ 4/1/91) details the passing of the literary torch from the Lost Generation to the Beat Generation. Beginning in the late 1940s with Richard Wright's first meeting in Paris with Gertrude Stein, Campbell opens a window into the early years of Beckett, Baldwin, Nabokov, and Henry Miller; the reigns of Camus and Sartre; each writer's struggle to find a suitable literary voice; and the rise and fall of Olympia Press. He closes the window in 1960 with the deaths of Camus, Boris Vian, and Wright (under suspicious circumstances), all within months of one another. He gives, however, a brief picture of young Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Mailer, just beginning to find their voices. One hopes Campbell's next book picks up right there, because there is much to be learned about the influences writers have on one another and about the importance of freedom of creativity from the tyrannies of race, sex, convention, politics, and economics. Recommended for serious literature collections.?Denise Sticha, Seton Hill Coll. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520234413
• ISBN-13: 978-0520234413
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating reading, August 27, 2000

By 

Eric V. Moye (New York, by way of Dallas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exiled in Paris: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett, and Others on the Left Bank (Hardcover)

After the end of the Second World War, a number of African Americans, including many of our most talented intellectuals, decided that America was just not a sufficiently hospitable home. Those who could left for Europe. Many, landed in Paris, which provided a far more civilized society.

Literary giants like James Baldwin, Richard Wright and other intellectuals found a place where their worth was determined by things more significant than skin color. This is the story of their experiences.

Another book worth searching for.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Porn in Paris, May 5, 2010

By 

Y. Zohar (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exiled in Paris: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett, and Others on the Left Bank (Paperback)

I purchased this book expecting to learn more about famous ex-pat authors living in post WW2 Paris. Indeed, the first part of the book, which concentrated on Richard Wright and James Baldwin, fully met my expectations. However after that the book details in minute detail the development of pornographic literature (heterosexual and homosexual)in Paris - authors and publishers. At some point I had enough and abandoned ship. It was just too boring.