My Contemporaries by Jean Cocteau
Recollections of Proust, Piaf, Colette, and a host of luminaries from Bohemian Paris For almost 50 years up until his death in 1963, Jean Cocteau held a unique place in French cultural life. The breadth of his artistic success bears witness to the astounding variety of his talents. In the fields of theater, cinema, art, ballet, and literature, Cocteau made many lifelong friends. Intimate portraits of some of the greatest artists of his age are included in this memorable memoir. Jean Cocteau was drawn to larger-than-life or seemingly unreal characters. He believed that their unreality was often the clue to the secrets of their personality. In descriptions of his contemporaries, Cocteau is able to illustrate everything that is accessible, sympathetic, memorable, durable, all-pervading, or dazzling about them. Ranging from the moving and atmospheric (the dying Proust in his cork-lined chamber) to the hilariously camp (Colette being carried from her apartment by sedan chair to have lunch across the road), it is in these portraits that the essence of his own work can be found. The portraits include Proust, Picasso, Piaf, Colette, Chaplin, and many more.
Cocteau, Jean: - Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), a French writer, artist and film director, was one of the most influential creative figures in the Parisian avant-garde. He wrote poetry, novels, memoirs, plays, and operas and was a prolific illustrator, designer, painter and sculptor. In the second half of his fifty-year career he produced and directed groundbreaking surrealist films, most notably Blood of a Poet (1930), Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949). New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael called him the progenitor of the new wave of French filmmakers. By the end of his life he had published 23 books of poems, seven novels, seven screenplays, four memoirs, overseen 21 theater productions, including plays, operas and ballets, 26 works with musicians, and 18 films.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780720612585 |
| ISBN 10 | 0720612586 |
| Title | My Contemporaries |
| Author | Jean Cocteau |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Peter Owen Publishers |
| Year published | 2008-11-01 |
| Number of pages | 280 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |