Marcel Proust - (Penguin Lives Biographies) by Edmund White (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The celebrated novelist and influential cultural critic's classic biography of one of history's most important writers, Marcel Proust

If there is anyone worthy of producing an intimate biography of the enigmatic genius behind Remembrance of Things Past, it is Edmund White, himself an award- winning writer for whom Marcel Proust has long been an obsession. White introduces us not only to the recluse endlessly rewriting his one massive work through the night, but also the darling of Parisian salons, the grasper after honors, and the closeted homosexual-a subject this book is the first to explore openly. From the frothiest gossip to the deepest angst, here is a moving portrait to be treasured by anyone looking for an introduction to this literary icon.

Review Quotes

"White has a novelist's eye for the telling detail or the remarkable phrase and, like Proust himself, concentrates upon the minutiae of the past so that it might live again. He has a wonderful sympathy with his subject, adduced in such reflections as ''Proust fancied that so long as he failed to begin his life's work, his life would go on.'' -- Peter Ackroyd, The New York Times Book Review

"White's deft prose is densely packed with information but never burdensome. He gives a good sense of why Proust's work is valuable, and why it remains eternally fresh." -- Washington Post

"A tale of twentieth-century literature 'par excellence' that White makes fun, accessible, and insightful."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer

"White's biography of Proust is a paragon of the genre; an engrossing and delightful piece of work."
-Norah Vincent, author of Self-Made Man

About the Author

Edmund White is the author of many novels, including A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, The Farewell Symphony, and Our Young Man. His nonfiction includes City Boy, Inside a Pearl, The Unpunished Vice, and other memoirs; The Flâneur, about Paris; and literary biographies and essays. He was named the 2018 winner of the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction and received the 2019 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation.