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Duvert assaults parenthood, priesthood, and neighborhood in this mock handbook to suburban living: Leave it to Beaver as written by William Burroughs.
THE AUTHOR: a cult favorite among American transgressive novelists such as Dennis Cooper, and championed by Roland Barthes, Tony Duvert was the enfant terrible of 60s-70s French literature. Through Barthes, he achieved public recognition in 1973 with his novel Strange Landscape. Semiotexte has recently reintroduced him into English. He was extremely controversial because of his advocacy of pedophilia. Could be compared to Michel Houllebecq or Dennis Cooper
THE BOOK: set in an imaginary French suburb, it describes, in 23 short satirical texts, a series of horrible jobs: 'The Snot-Remover,' 'The Wiper,' 'The Skinner' etc. Never before translated into English-- a truly savage and shocking satire.
By Tony Duvert. Introduction by S.C. Delaney. Translation by S.C. Delaney, Agnès Potier.
This series of 23 satirically scabrous short texts introduces the reader to an imaginary French suburb via the strange, grotesque small-town occupations that defined a once reliable, now presumably vanished way of life.
A catalog of job descriptions that range from the disgusting functions of “The Snot-Remover” and “The Wiper” to the shockingly cruel dramas enacted by “The Skinner” and “The Snowman,” Odd Jobs evinces an outrageous, uncomfortable and savage sense of humor. Through these narratives somewhere between parody and prose poem, Duvert assaults parenthood, priesthood and neighborhood in this mock handbook to suburban living: Leave It to Beaver as written by William Burroughs.
Tony Duvert (1945–2008) earned a reputation as the “enfant terrible” of the generation of French authors known for defining the postwar Nouveau Roman. Expelled from school at the age of 12 for homosexuality (and then put through a psychoanalytic “cure” for his condition), Duvert declared war on family life and societal norms through a controversial series of novels and essays (whose frequent controversial depictions of child sexuality and pedophilia often led his publisher to sell his works by subscription only). He won the Prix Medicis in 1973 for his novel Strange Landscape. His reputation faded in the 1980s, however, and he withdrew from society. He died in 2008.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Paris Review: The Daily
A satirical, caustic, and yet delightfully light collection of fables.
Full Stop
Aaron Winslow
Now, with the publication of Odd Jobs and District — both beautifully translated and introduced by S.C. Delaney and Agnes Potier — readers have access to a fuller range of Duvert’s later oeuvre, quieter but no less provocative. These slim (approximately 40 pages each) volumes are put out by the venerable Wakefield Press, whose publication of translations of “overlooked gems and literary oddities” is nothing short of the Lord’s work.
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FORMAT: Pbk, 4.5 x 7 in. / 64 pgs. LIST PRICE: U.S. $11.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $17.5 GBP £9.99 ISBN: 9781939663290 PUBLISHER: Wakefield Press AVAILABLE: 11/21/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Wakefield Press. By Tony Duvert. Introduction by S.C. Delaney. Translation by S.C. Delaney, Agnès Potier.
This series of 23 satirically scabrous short texts introduces the reader to an imaginary French suburb via the strange, grotesque small-town occupations that defined a once reliable, now presumably vanished way of life.
A catalog of job descriptions that range from the disgusting functions of “The Snot-Remover” and “The Wiper” to the shockingly cruel dramas enacted by “The Skinner” and “The Snowman,” Odd Jobs evinces an outrageous, uncomfortable and savage sense of humor. Through these narratives somewhere between parody and prose poem, Duvert assaults parenthood, priesthood and neighborhood in this mock handbook to suburban living: Leave It to Beaver as written by William Burroughs.
Tony Duvert (1945–2008) earned a reputation as the “enfant terrible” of the generation of French authors known for defining the postwar Nouveau Roman. Expelled from school at the age of 12 for homosexuality (and then put through a psychoanalytic “cure” for his condition), Duvert declared war on family life and societal norms through a controversial series of novels and essays (whose frequent controversial depictions of child sexuality and pedophilia often led his publisher to sell his works by subscription only). He won the Prix Medicis in 1973 for his novel Strange Landscape. His reputation faded in the 1980s, however, and he withdrew from society. He died in 2008.
