Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette Paperback - 2000
by Judith Thurman
The National Book Award-winning biographer of Isak Dinesen now turns her attention to Colette, one of France's greatest and most notorious novelists and personalities. Colette is a genuine cult figure, not only because of her brilliant, though underrated fiction, but also as a model for defying conventions to live fully as an artist and a woman. 53 photos.
First line
IN THE MIDDLE of the last century, the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye was rustic backwater despite its proximity to Paris, three hours by train to the nearest station followed by a rough cart ride.
From the jacket flap
A scandalously talented stage performer, a practiced seductress of both men and women, and the flamboyant author of some of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature, Colette was our first true superstar. Now, in Judith Thurman's Secrets of the Flesh, Colette at last has a biography worthy of her dazzling reputation.
Having spent her childhood in the shadow of an overpowering mother, Colette escaped at age twenty into a turbulent marriage with the sexy, unscrupulous Willy--a literary charlatan who took credit for her bestselling Claudine novels. Weary of Willy's sexual domination, Colette pursued an extremely public lesbian love affair with a niece of Napoleon's. At forty, she gave birth to a daughter who bored her, at forty-seven she seduced her teenage stepson, and in her seventies she flirted with the Nazi occupiers of Paris, even though her beloved third husband, a Jew, had been arrested by the Gestapo. And all the while, this incomparable woman poured forth a torrent of masterpieces, including Gigi, Sido, Cheri, and Break of Day. Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award-winning biography of Isak Dinesen, portrays Colette as a thoroughly modern woman: frank in her desires, fierce in her passions, forever reinventing herself. Rich with delicious gossip and intimate revelations, shimmering with grace and intelligence, Secrets of the Flesh is one of the great biographies of our time.
Details
- Title Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette
- Author Judith Thurman
- Binding Paperback
- Edition First Ballantine
- Pages 672
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Ballantine Books, New York
- Date October 31, 2000
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
- ISBN 9780345371034 / 0345371038
- Weight 1.7 lbs (0.77 kg)
- Dimensions 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.5 in (23.37 x 15.49 x 3.81 cm)
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 20th Century
- Chronological Period: 1851-1899
- Cultural Region: French
- Cultural Region: Western Europe
- Sex & Gender: Feminine
- Library of Congress subjects Authors, French - 20th century, Colette
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 00107467
- Dewey Decimal Code B
Excerpt
Media reviews
Citations
- Entertainment Weekly, 12/01/2000, Page 90
- New York Times, 12/03/2000, Page 109
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