Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life [Hardcover]

Katharine Conley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0803215231 | ISBN-13: 978-0803215238 | Publication Date: January 1, 2004

In this critical biography of Robert Desnos (1900–1945), Katharine Conley reevaluates the surrealist movement through the life and works of one of its founders. Desnos was as famous among the surrealists for his independence of mind as for his elaborate “automatic” drawings and his brilliant oral and written performances during the incubational period of the group. He stayed with the official surrealist movement in Paris for only six years but was pivotal during that time in shaping the surrealist notion of “transforming the world” through radical experiments with language and art. After leaving the group, Desnos continued his career of radio broadcasting and writing for commercials. Though no longer part of the official movement, he remained committed to his own version of popular surrealism: Desnosian surrealism and the search for the “marvelous” in everyday life. Near the end of World War II he was deported and imprisoned for his work in the French Resistance and died at the newly liberated camp of Terezin in Czechoslovakia. Reports from within the camp indicate that Desnos took with him into Terezin his most deeply held surrealist beliefs.

(20080207)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Katharine Conley, connoisseur of the bizarre, resuscitates the most established practitioner of automatism in Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life."—Elissa Schappell, Vanity Fair

(Elissa Schappell Vanity Fair )

“One of the essential and so far missing pieces in the history of surrealism in this country.”—Serge Gavronsky, author of Toward a New Poetics: Contemporary Writing in France

(Serge Gavronsky )

“Katharine Conley’s remarkable critical biography, Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life, presents a new interpretation of the question of engagement. . . . [It] is an important work that makes us rethink the history of surrealism and its socio-political significance. With its thorough historiography and detailed literary analyses, this book will make an invaluable contribution to the fields of cultural history, literature, and literary criticism. It is one of interest to scholars and the general public alike.”—Terri J. Gordon, Journal of Surrealism and the Americas

 

(Terri J. Gordon Journal of Surrealism and the Americas )

"In this first biography of Robert Desnos, Katharine Conley demonstrates how the great French poet influenced the course of surrealism in the 20th century. . . . This is a lively and important work of biography and criticism and a major achievement in surrealist studies."—The Bloomsbury Review

(The Bloomsbury Review )

About the Author

Katharine Conley is an associate professor of French at Dartmouth College. She is the author of Automatic Women: The Representation of Woman in Surrealism (Nebraska 1996).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803215231
• ISBN-13: 978-0803215238
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,958,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Robert Desnos, January 7, 2010

By 

Cynthia R. Goff "Cindy Goff" (Warrenton VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life (Paperback)

Desnos is my favorite poet. Even though I can find relatively little of his poetry translated into English, he speaks to me over the spaces of time and ocean. Thanks to this book, I know something of his life and death; he is more amazing than I ever dreamed. I discovered him in grad school years ago, and he has always been the benchmark for me as a poet. I occasionally might stray into the great poet lands of Eastern Europe or South American, but I ALWAYS come home to Paris where Desnos will be leaning against a stone wall, cigarette hanging out of his mouth ready to teach me something new. I'm convinced that he would have loved coming home to Paris in a Czech cocktail shaker. I will be on the lookout for more books by Conley.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars new surrealism, November 21, 2006

By 

Marian Eide "Engaged Reader" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life (Hardcover)

Conley's beautifully written and carefully researched intellectual biography of Desnos provides a radically new approach not just to this singular poet but also the the French surrealist movement which he helped to found. The most moving chapter in this emotionally rich book reviews Desnos's last poem, thought to have been written while the poet was incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp. Conley provides a startlingly new history of this poem's composition. Other chapters introduce Desnos's extravagant loves in relation to his poetry, describe his spontaneous lapses into automatic poetry, and chronicle his subversive contributions to the French Resistance both as a poet and as a fighter. This book provides great insight into the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe even as it details the works of one of this period's singular figures.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars micro-type, September 23, 2004

By 

Storr Bought "surreal sleuth" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Desnos, Surrealism, and the Marvelous in Everyday Life (Hardcover)

the type used in this intriguing, much awaited book is so small that reading it is truly discouraging. why, why why???? ruin such an effort!