Diary of an Innocent by Tony Duvert (English) Paperback Book

The Nile on eBay   Diary of an Innocent by Tony Duvert, Bruce Benderson

Now in English, Duvert's shocking novel about a sexual adventurer among a tribe of adolescent boys in Northern Africa.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Now in English, Duvert's shocking novel about a sexual adventurer among a tribe of adolescent boys in Northern Africa."I'd find it amusing if, in a few centuries, the only thing that our descendents condescend to retain of our artistic production, the only thing in which they'll see worlds to admire, to penetrate, the only thing that they'll show off as precious in immense museums after having flushed down the toilet all our acknowledged masterpieces, the only thing that will give them nostalgia and love for us will be our porn."-from Diary of an InnocentExiled from the prestigious French literary circles that had adored him in the 1970s, novelist Tony Duvert's life ended in anonymity. In 2008, nineteen years after his last book was published, Duvert's lifeless body was discovered in the small village of Thore-la-Rochette, where he had been living a life of total seclusion.Now for the first time, Duvert's most highly crafted novel is available in English. Poetic, brutally frank, and outright shocking, Diary of an Innocent recounts the risky experiences of a sexual adventurer among a tribe of adolescent boys in an imaginary setting that suggests North Africa. More reverie than narrative, Duvert's Diary presents a cascading series of portraits of the narrator's adolescent sexual partners and their culture, and ends with a fanciful yet rigorous construction of a reverse world in which marginal sexualities have become the norm.Written with gusto and infused with a luminous bitterness, this novel is more unsettling to readers today than it was to its first audience when published in French in 1976. In his openly declared war on society, Duvert presents a worldview that offers no easy moral code and no false narrative solution of redemption. And yet no reader will remain untouched by the book's dazzling language, stinging wit, devotion to matters of the heart, and terse condemnation of today's society.

Notes

"'I always write completely nude, and I don't wash before,' writes Tony Duvert, whose explosive Diary of an Innocent is part tract, part porn, part theory, part fiction, and (I presume) part fact. Certain pages of Gide, Genet, Hocquenghem and certain scenes from Bresson or Pasolini suggest themselves as mild precursors, but Duvert goes further, filthier, faster. Only the Marquis de Sade outpaces him. Must we burn Duvert? I pray not. This book, troubling and memorable, interrogates with delicate strokes the damaged state of contemporary sexual relations." Wayne Koestenbaum "Diary of an Innocent by Tony Duvert is a truly scandalous work, but first and foremost a work of great depth and freedom... A book that reinvents the seduction of literature." Abdellah Taia, author of Salvation Army

Author Biography

Tony Duvert (1945-2008) is the author of fourteen books of fiction and nonfiction. His fifth novel, Strange Landscape, won the prestigious Prix Medicis in 1973. Other books translated into English include the novels When Jonathan Died and Diary of an Innocent as well as the essay Good Sex Illustrated, the last two both available from Semiotext(e).Novelist, translator, and essayist Bruce Benderson is the author of a memoir, The Romanian- Story of an Obsession, winner of France's prestigious Prix de Flore in French translation, and Pacific Agony (Semiotext(e), 2009.)Novelist, translator, and essayist Bruce Benderson is the author of a memoir, The Romanian- Story of an Obsession, winner of France's prestigious Prix de Flore in French translation, and Pacific Agony (Semiotext(e), 2009.)

Review

Shock value aside, the book is intelligent to its core. Duvert's style is consummate, his devices elegant, his methods seductive; Bruce Benderson's translation is clear and stately. * Review of Contemporary Fiction *

Promotional

'I always write completely nude, and I don't wash before,' writes Tony Duvert, whose explosive Diary of an Innocent is part tract, part porn, part theory, part fiction, and (I presume) part fact. Certain pages of Gide, Genet, Hocquenghem and certain scenes from Bresson or Pasolini suggest themselves as mild precursors, but Duvert goes further, filthier, faster. Only the Marquis de Sade outpaces him. Must we burn Duvert? I pray not. This book, troubling and memorable, interrogates with delicate strokes the damaged state of contemporary sexual relations. -- Wayne Koestenbaum Diary of an Innocent by Tony Duvert is a truly scandalous work, but first and foremost a work of great depth and freedom... A book that reinvents the seduction of literature. -- Abdellah Taia, author of Salvation Army

Review Text

"'I always write completely nude, and I don't wash before,' writes Tony Duvert, whose explosive Diary of an Innocentis part tract, part porn, part theory, part fiction, and (I presume) part fact. Certain pages of Gide, Genet, Hocquenghem-and certain scenes from Bresson or Pasolini-suggest themselves as mild precursors, but Duvert goes further, filthier, faster. Only the Marquis de Sade outpaces him. Must we burn Duvert? I pray not. This book, troubling and memorable, interrogates-with delicate strokes-the damaged state of contemporary sexual relations." -Wayne Koestenbaum

Review Quote

"Shock value aside, the book is intelligent to its core. Duvert's style isconsummate, his devices elegant, his methods seductive; Bruce Benderson's translation is clear andstately." -- Review of Contemporary Fiction

Details ISBN1584350776 Author Bruce Benderson Short Title DIARY OF AN INNOCENT Language English Translator Bruce Benderson ISBN-10 1584350776 ISBN-13 9781584350774 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2010 Imprint Semiotext Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States DEWEY 843.914 Translated from French Pages 256 Audience Age 18 Publication Date 2010-09-10 UK Release Date 2010-09-10 AU Release Date 2010-09-10 NZ Release Date 2010-09-10 US Release Date 2010-09-10 Publisher Autonomedia Audience General Series Diary of an Innocent We've got this

At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it.With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love!

TheNile_Item_ID:141748316;