My Double Life: The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt (Suny Series, Women Writers in Translation) - Softcover

Bernhardt, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791440540 ISBN 13: 9780791440544

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1999

Synopsis

A translation of Ma Double Vie, the autobiography of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was one of the classical theater's all-time greatest stars.

My Double Life is the autobiography of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was internationally famed during her lifetime and afterwards as one of the classical theater’s all-time greatest stars. Bernhardt’s memoirs are composed with a novelist’s (or actress’s) sense of artistry and suspense that leaves no doubt of the charisma for which she was famed in her “double life,” both on- and off-stage. Yet at the same time as this book very consciously contributes to the crafting of her image, it also illuminates a whole era: not only the world of theater, but also the worlds of women, politics, society, Europe and America, and, indeed, of history making itself.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Bernhardt was one of the leading international actresses of her day. This memoir is particularly interesting not only because of the light it sheds on theater, but also because of what it tells us about the role of an artist in a particularly troubled period of French history.

"Larson's translation is very good and extremely readable. The only other version in English was published in the first decade of this century and is hopelessly out of date. Larson has taken pains to ensure that the language is contemporary but jargon-free, and the book is very well written. The translator's notes are an asset to readers who have no background knowledge of the period." - Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick

My Double Life is the autobiography of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was internationally famed during her lifetime and afterwards as one of the classical theater's all-time greatest stars. Bernhardt's memoirs are composed with a novelist's (or actress's) sense of artistry and suspense that leaves no doubt of the charisma for which she was famed in her "double life," both on- and off-stage. Yet at the same time as this book very consciously contributes to the crafting of her image, it also illuminates a whole era: not only the world of theater, but also the worlds of women, politics, society, Europe and America, and, indeed, of history making itself.

"This is one of the most interesting works I've read in the last few years. I found it a compelling read from the very first page to the last. I wish there were another volume to follow!" - Anna St. Leger Lucas, McMaster University

About the Author:

Victoria Tietze Larson is Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State University. She is the author of The Role of Description in Senecan Tragedy .

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0791440540
• ISBN 13: 9780791440544
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 358