Georges Perec was a French essayist, novelist, memoirist, and
filmmaker. Born in Paris in 1936, the child of Polish Jews, his
father died as soldier in the Second World War and his mother was
killed in the Holocaust. Much of his work dealt with themes of
identity, loss, absence--including his most celebrated work, Life A
User's Manual.
In addition to being honored by the Prix Renaudot (1965), the Prix
Jean Vigo (1974), the Prix Médicis (1978), and the French postal
service (2002), both an asteroid and a street in Paris were named
in his honor--as well as a Google Doodle on his 80th birthday.
David Bellos won the first Man Booker International Prize for his
translations of the Albanian author, Ismail Kadare, and holds the
rank of Officier in the Ordre national des Arts et des Lettres and
an honorary membership in The International Association of
Professional Translators and Interpreters.
Praise for Life A User's Manual "Those who have a taste for the unusual, for books that create worlds unto themselves, will be dazzled by this crazy-quilt monument to the imagination."--The New York Times Book Review "In this wondrously optimistic book, he sidles through the lives of the inhabitants of a single Paris apartment block and manages to convey scintillas of every aspect of the human condition--proving that, while ultimately without point, life is a continuum rich beyond belief, and so very well worth living."--The Week Magazine "This elaborate jigsaw puzzle of a novel has drawn comparisons to the masterworks of twentieth-century literature."--Rolling Stone "A classic of contemporary fiction."--Publishers Weekly "Perec's artistry has achieved a perfect balance between allure and imponderability."--The Los Angeles Times
``The eye follows the paths that have been laid down for it in the work,'' begins Perec's encyclopedic novel, which details everything, animate and inamimate, in an imaginary apartment house. His characters unfailingly do the least expected: Laurelle, killed at her own wedding by a falling chandelier; Ingeborn, who casts a white actor as Otello; Gregoire, fired from a vegetarian restaurant for pouring beef extract in the vegetable soup; a judge's wife sentenced to hard labor. The author reserves the greatest irony for Percival Bartlebooth, like himself an artist. Bartlebooth paints watercolors that are made into jigsaw puzzles, then reverses the process until he has a perfectly blank sheet. Creation and dissolution are the themes in this highly entertaining work, itself a puzzle. Lisa Mullenneaux, Iowa City, Iowa
Praise for Life A User's Manual "Those who have a taste for the unusual, for books that create worlds unto themselves, will be dazzled by this crazy-quilt monument to the imagination."--The New York Times Book Review "In this wondrously optimistic book, he sidles through the lives of the inhabitants of a single Paris apartment block and manages to convey scintillas of every aspect of the human condition--proving that, while ultimately without point, life is a continuum rich beyond belief, and so very well worth living."--The Week Magazine "This elaborate jigsaw puzzle of a novel has drawn comparisons to the masterworks of twentieth-century literature."--Rolling Stone "A classic of contemporary fiction."--Publishers Weekly "Perec's artistry has achieved a perfect balance between allure and imponderability."--The Los Angeles Times
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