Alfred Jarry: The Man With the Axe (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Last Gasp (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.com Sales Rank: #734,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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)

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!

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)

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

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

By	Chad A. (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

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.