Overview

In From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter, Francis Carco evokes the rich, hallucinatory marvels of Montmartre, Montparnasse, and the Latin Quarter during the 1910s and early Twenties. The work also serves as a poignant memorial to all those artists and writers who were sacrificed during the Great War, their young, promising lives nipped in the bud before they reached their highest potential. From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter is a record of deep friendship in which memory serves as the most potent talisman of the heart. This newly revised edition features Rob Couteau's in-depth Introduction and over 300 annotations that serve to greatly expand the context of this lively chronicle. It also features a poignant Afterword titled ""Francis Carco's Complexity"" by the author Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno. In 1922, Carco was awarded Le Grand Prix du Roman for his novel L'Homme traqué (""The Hunted Man""), and in 1937 he was elected to the Académie Goncourt.

Full Product Details

9781963363012

Table of Contents

Reviews

""If, perchance, From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter sounds familiar, that's because Francis Carco's memoir was first published in 1927. This annotated edition makes his work more accessible to a wider audience, includes Rob Couteau's analytical Introduction and a new Afterword by Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno, and follows the experiences of an 1886 poet, artist, and traveler who fell into a close, supportive association with bohemian Paris. There the young man creatively blossomed, immersed in the arts and producing over a hundred books that ranged from poetry to his own astute analyses of other artists, including a critical essay on Modigliani which revealed the man's value at a point where other French critics scoffed at his works. From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter is more than your typical biography. It assumes the atmospheric draw of a Proust production with its 'you are here' survey of Paris' artistic community. Couteau's footnotes add critical reflections and interpretations key to understanding Carco's objectives and perspectives. Both Carco and researcher Rob Couteau create compelling observations, insights, and historical value, but couch these in lively language and passages that should reach into general-interest audiences who hold an appreciation for all things Parisian and for its arts community of the early 1900s. Its survey of friendships, relationships, and the artistic promise quashed by events of the Great War create a lively, memorable read especially recommended for those who appreciate in-depth footnoted references. These enlighten readers on facets of Carco's life that might otherwise slip by with a reading of the memoir alone. All these facets make From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter an astute historical and literary memoir that embraces the arts, social and political milieu, and powerful perspectives of the times. Libraries (including general-interest collections as well as college-level holdings strong in memoirs and artist history) will find it easy to recommend From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter for its thoroughly engrossing, richly realistic passages, firmly embedded in Carco's life and the creations and influences of 1900s Paris."" - Diane Donovan, Senior editor, Midwest Book Review

"""If, perchance, From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter sounds familiar, that's because Francis Carco's memoir was first published in 1927. This annotated edition makes his work more accessible to a wider audience, includes Rob Couteau's analytical Introduction and a new Afterword by Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno, and follows the experiences of an 1886 poet, artist, and traveler who fell into a close, supportive association with bohemian Paris. There the young man creatively blossomed, immersed in the arts and producing over a hundred books that ranged from poetry to his own astute analyses of other artists, including a critical essay on Modigliani which revealed the man's value at a point where other French critics scoffed at his works. From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter is more than your typical biography. It assumes the atmospheric draw of a Proust production with its 'you are here' survey of Paris' artistic community. Couteau's footnotes add critical reflections and interpretations key to understanding Carco's objectives and perspectives. Both Carco and researcher Rob Couteau create compelling observations, insights, and historical value, but couch these in lively language and passages that should reach into general-interest audiences who hold an appreciation for all things Parisian and for its arts community of the early 1900s. Its survey of friendships, relationships, and the artistic promise quashed by events of the Great War create a lively, memorable read especially recommended for those who appreciate in-depth footnoted references. These enlighten readers on facets of Carco's life that might otherwise slip by with a reading of the memoir alone. All these facets make From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter an astute historical and literary memoir that embraces the arts, social and political milieu, and powerful perspectives of the times. Libraries (including general-interest collections as well as college-level holdings strong in memoirs and artist history) will find it easy to recommend From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter for its thoroughly engrossing, richly realistic passages, firmly embedded in Carco's life and the creations and influences of 1900s Paris."" - Diane Donovan, Senior editor, Midwest Book Review"

Author Information

Born in Noumea, New Caledonia in 1886, FRANCIS CARCO arrived in Paris during the winter of his 24th year, in January 1910. Making a beeline for the soon-to-be legendary cabaret, Le Lapin Agile, he was quickly accepted into the inner circle of a Parisian bohemia. There, on La Butte Montmartre, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Picasso, Modigliani, Utrillo, Max Jacob, Pierre Mac Orlan, Apollinaire, and many of the other leading lights of a Parisian avant-garde. As the author of over 100 books, Carco's talents were plentiful. He composed poetry, literary fiction, plays, and biography, and was even known as a witty and engaging chansonnier. But throughout each of these creative expressions his manner remains that of a poet: utilizing a personal vision to unravel and portray the spiritual enigmas that life presents. He was also possessed by a prescient perception and published the first critical essay on Modigliani, whose work he began to collect during a period when other French critics merely scoffed at the contributions of this modern master. Likewise, his early essays on Utrillo, forged by his personal interactions with the painter, remain modern classics filled with a unique perspective. But certainly, his most developed and enduring talent was that of a memoirist. In From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter he evokes the rich, hallucinatory marvels of Montmartre, Montparnasse, and the Latin Quarter during the 1910s and early Twenties. The work also serves as a poignant memorial to all those artists and writers who were sacrificed during the Great War, their young, promising lives nipped in the bud before they reached their highest potential. From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter is a record of deep friendship in which memory serves as the most potent talisman of the heart. This newly revised edition features an in-depth Introduction and over 300 annotations that serve to greatly expand the context of this lively chronicle. In 1922, Carco was awarded Le Grand Prix du Roman for his novel L'Homme traqué (""The Hunted Man""), and in 1937 he was elected to the Académie Goncourt. ROB COUTEAU is a writer and visual artist from Brooklyn whose publications have been praised in Midwest Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Evergreen Review, Witty Partition, and the New Art Examiner. His work is cited in books such as Ghetto Images in Twentieth-Century American Literature by Tyrone Simpson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Thomas Fahy, Conversations with Ray Bradbury edited by Steven Aggelis, and David Cohen's Forgotten Millions, a book about the homeless. His interviews include conversations with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Justin Kaplan, Last Exit to Brooklyn novelist Hubert Selby, Simon & Schuster editor Michael Korda, LSD discoverer Albert Hofmann, Picasso's model and muse Sylvette David, sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, film star and bibliophile Neil Pearson, and historian Philip Willan, author Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy. In 1985 he won the North American Essay Award, sponsored by the American Humanist Association. He has appeared as a guest on Bob Barrett's The Best of Our Knowledge (WAMC), Len Osanic's Black Op Radio, and on Monocle 24 in Europe. A former writer-in-residence at MIT and a widely published poet, CHRISTOPHER SAWYER-LAUCANNO is the author of E. E. Cummings, The Continual Pilgrimage: American Writers in Paris, 1944-1960, and An Invisible Spectator, A Biography of Paul Bowles. His translations include Barbarous Nights: Legends and the Little Theater by Federico Garcia Lorca, and Concerning the Angels by Rafael Alberti (both published by City Lights).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available