In The Absence of Men
Besson, Philippe
ISBN 10: 0434009695 ISBN 13: 9780434009695
Published by William Heinemann, 2002
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hardcover
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About this Item
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Seller Inventory # 0434009695-VB
Synopsis:
A magical first novel by a talented young French author recreates Proust’s upper-middle-class Paris during WWI.
Few established novelists would dare to write a novel in which Proust appears as a character. Fewer still would have the nerve to invent love letters written by Proust to a 16-year-old boy. For a first novelist to set himself this challenge and succeed is remarkable.
Paris 1916. Vincent is 16 and approaching manhood very much “in the absence of men” with every able-bodied young man away at the front. In his relationship with the soldier-son of one of his parent’s servants, he explores his sexuality. His platonic relationship with the middle-aged Jewish writer Marcel Proust stimulates an intelligence and sophistication remarkable in an adolescent. With both he enters a world of love, both erotic and platonic. The book is as remarkable an act of homage to a great writer as Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Seas was to Charlotte Bronte.
About the Author: Philippe Besson lives in France. This is his first novel.
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Bibliographic Details
Title: In The Absence of Men
Publisher: William Heinemann
Publication Date: 2002
Binding: hardcover
Condition: As New