Kosinski, Jerzy

New York. 1988. June 1988. Seaver/Holt. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0805006117. 531 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Jon Valk. keywords: Literature America . FROM THE PUBLISHER - This ‘autofiction' by Norbert Korsky, a 55-year-old Holocaust survivor from the Poland-like country of ‘Ruthenia,' is presented by Kosinski as the ‘working papers' of a deceased writer whose life and times mirror Kosinski's own. Set in New York and Hollywood, the story is hobbled by its form, a relentless homage to Vladimir Nabokov. Almost every page is studded with footnotes and documentation, some consisting of newspaper leads and some culled from imaginary sources. Quotes from a panoply of writers are strewn throughout the text. It is as if Kosinski is obsessed with proving that in the hands of a gifted writer anything can be given meaning and relevance. There is much mystical hocus-pocus over the recurrence of the number 69 throughout these pages; the conceit includes incessant asides to the printer and the reader, signed N. K and J. K. Kosinski makes thousands of allusions. In a reference to the Charles Manson murders, for example, he calls Sharon Tate Ophelia and the other victims Rosencrantz and Mr. and Mrs. Guildenstern. This is a clever tour de force, but difficult to define as a novel, not to be compared with THE PAINTED BIRD, STEPS or BEING THERE for sheer quality of writing. It's a self-conscious demonstration of technique, delivered with a wink and a smirk. - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. inventory #10219 ISBN: 0805006117.