My Contemporaries

Cocteau, Jean

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0720612586 ISBN 13 : 9780720612585

Editeur : Peter Owen Publishers, 2008

Book by Cocteau Jean

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Personal reminiscences of Apollinaire, Radiguet, Proust, Gide, Modigliani, Picasso, Chaplin, Piaf, de Chirico, Colette and others. Illustrated by Jean Cocteau.

For almost fifty 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 theatre, cinema, art, ballet and literature Cocteau made many life-long 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.

Revue de presse :

Republished for the first time in 40 years, this charming little memoir by Jean Cocteau combines his written and sketchy pen portraits of his pals, including Picasso, Gide, Proust and Edith Piaf 'with those tenacious lizard hands...and eyes full of wonder.' Edited with an admirably concise introduction by Margaret Crosland --Katie Law, Evening Standard

'Delightful reading, brilliant, witty, chic and profound. Colette, Piaf, Sachs, Proust, Appollinaire et al are presented for a few brief moments like characters coming to life at the footlights' --Irish Times

'Attractive, approachable . . . Everything is light, easy, and, for all that, penetrating. The showman, showing others, shows himself' Times Literary Supplement --Times Literary Supplement