53 Days (First Edition)

Georges Perec (author); Harry Mathews and Jacques Roubaud (editors)

ISBN 10: 1567920888 / ISBN 13: 9781567920888

Published by David R. Godine, Boston, 2000

About this Item

Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc. (2000). A Verba Mundi imprint. First American edition. First printing. Hardbound. As New in an as-new dust jacket. A nice tight unread copy, fresh and clean. Comes with mylar dust jacket protector. Rear-stacks.

Seller Inventory # m51

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 53 Days (First Edition)
• Publisher: David R. Godine, Boston
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1567920888
• ISBN 13: 9781567920888
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Seller catalogs:
  • French Literature

About this title

Synopsis

A puzzling mystery and the last, unfinished work by Georges Perec―a writer Italo Calvino called, ”One of the most singular literary personalities in the world.” The narrator, a teacher in a tropical French colony, is trying to track down the famous crime-writer Robert Serval, who has mysteriously disappeared. Serval has left behind the manuscript of his last, unfinished novel, which may contain clues to his fate.
Before his death, Perec completed 11 of a planned 28 chapters but left extensive drafts and notes for his friends and frequent collaborators, Harry Mathews and Jacques Roubaud. The two assembled the unfinished mystery and, through notes, provide a fascinating view into the author's mind as he fashioned his literary labyrinth of mirror-stories.

About the Authors

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.