Privy Portrait by Jean-Luc Benoziglio

Privy Portrait by Jean-Luc Benoziglio

The narrator in Jean-Luc Benoziglio’s Privy Portrait has fallen on hard times. His wife and young daughter have abandoned him, he has no work or prospects, he’s blind in one eye, and he must move into a horribly tiny apartment with his only possession: a twenty-five-volume encyclopedia. His neighbors, the Shritzkys, are vulgar, narrow-minded, and racist. And because he has no space for his encyclopedia in his cramped room, he stores it in the communal bathroom, and this becomes a major point of contention with his neighbors. The bathroom is also the only place he can find refuge from the Shritzkys’ blaring television, and he barricades himself in it to read his encyclopedia, much to the chagrin of the rest of the residents of the building. Darkly amusing, Privy Portrait is the monologue of a man, disoriented by the gaping void of not knowing his own nationality, recounting the final remnants of his own sanity and his life. In this buffoonish, even grotesque, yet deeply pitiful man, Benoziglio explores, with a light yet profound touch, weighty themes such as the roles of family, history, one’s moral responsibility towards others, and the fragility of personal identity.

“There’s considerable comic relief in Privy Portrait, as the narrator recounts his sadly amusing efforts to get by and find his place—not very good efforts, which are marked by missteps and bad decisions all along the wayThe humor leavens and distracts from what’s an otherwise very dark tale, a mix Benoziglio manages quite well, helped by his sharp, wry writing which Lewis captures nicely in her translation.” * Complete Review *
“A lively translation by Tess Lewis, Privy Portrait . . . is a darkly comic story. . . . It is dialogue, daydream, recalled events, and caustic self-assessment that fuel the prose.” * On the Seawall *
Shortlisted * French-American Foundation Translation Prize, 2015 *

Jean-Luc Benoziglio has written fourteen novels and won several prestigious literary awards including the Prix Médecis for Privy Portrait. Tess Lewis has translated seven books and numerous essays and articles from French and German.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780857428424
ISBN 10	085742842X
Titel	Privy Portrait
Autor	Jean-Luc Benoziglio
Serie	The French List
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Seagull Books London Ltd
Erscheinungsjahr	2021-06-04
Seitenanzahl	264
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.