"An award-winning translator describes and defends his profession. . . . Ultimately illuminating, even transformative." — Kirkus Reviews"Dazzingly inventive." — New York Times Book Review , A Notable Book of the Year"A richly original cultural history." — The Economist , A Book ...

This "impeccably researched and pithily written" volume reveals the dramatic life of Victor Hugo's literary masterpiece ( The New York Times ).Les Misérables is among the most popular and enduring novels ever written. Like Inspector Javert's dogged pursuit of Jean Valjean, its appeal has never waned since its first publication in 1862. Whether we encounter Victor Hugo's story on the page, onstage, or on-screen,

"It's hard to see how anyone is ever going to better this User's Manual to the life of Georges Perec" - Gilbert Adair, Sunday TimesWinner of the Prix Goncourt for Biography, 1994George Perec (1936-82) was one of the most significant European writers of the twentieth century and undoubtedly the most versatile and innovative writer of his generation.David Bellos's comprehensive biography - which also provides the first full survey of Perec's irreverent, polym...

Jacques Tatis Monsieur Hulot, unverkennbar mit seiner Pfeife, seinem Regenschirm und seinen gestreiften Socken, war eine geniale Slapstick-Kreation, die das Publikum auf der ganzen Welt über die Absurdität des Lebens lachen ließ. David Bello’s Biografie zeichnet Tatis Aufstieg und Fall nach, von seinen Anfängen als Varieté-Mime während der Depression über den Erfolg von „Jour de Fête“ und „Mon Oncle“ bis hin zu „Playtime“, dem grandiosen Meisterwerk, das den gefeierten Regisseur und Oscar-...

**GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017'Never mind those self-help manuals urging that some classic novel may change your life; in this sparkling study of the birth, growth and afterlife of Hugo's evergreen blockbuster, David Bellos argues that Les Misérables already has' Boyd Tonkin, Economist'Any reader who hasn't yet embarked on Hugo's book might be converted to the idea by this one' Daniel Hahn, SpectatorThe extraordinary story of h...

People speak different languages, and always have. The Ancient Greeks took no notice of anything unless it was said in Greek; the Romans made everyone speak Latin; and in India, people learned their neighbours' languages - as did many ordinary Europeans in times past. But today, we all use translation to cope with the diversity of languages. Without translation there would be no world news, not much of a reading list in any subject at college, no repair manuals for cars or planes, and we w...

Il personaggio creato da Jacques Tati, lo stralunatissimo Monsieur Hulot, vestito di impermeabile e cappello, con l'immancabile ombrello in mano e l'iconica pipa in bocca, è uno dei pochi personaggi universali e senza tempo che il cinema ha proposto, sulla scia di quelli creati da Buster Keaton e Charlie Chaplin. A 40 anni dalla morte del grande regista e mimo francese, ecco finalmente pubblicata anche in Italia la biografia più autorevole e completa dedicata a questo grande artista, a fir...

Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot, unmistakeable with his pipe, brolly and striped socks, was a creation of sheer slapstick genius that made audiences around the world laugh at the sheer absurdity of life. This biography charts Tati's rise and fall, from his earliest beginnings as a music hall mime during the Depression, to the success of Jour de Fete and Mon Oncle, to Playtime, the grandiose masterpiece that left the once delebrated director bankrupt and begging for...

A long-lost French novel in which three soldiers return home from an unpopular, unspeakable warWhen On Leave was published in Paris in 1957, as France's engagement in Algeria became ever more bloody, it told people things they did not want to hear. It vividly described what it was like for soldiers to return home from an unpopular war in a faraway place. The book received a handful of reviews, it was never reprinted, it disappeared from view. With no outco...

**A New Yorker Best Book of 2024A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice"Lively, opinionated, and ultra-timely." —Louis Menand, The New YorkerA fascinating and original history of an idea that now controls and monetizes almost everything we do.**Copyright is everywhere. Your smartphone incorporates thousands of items of intellectual property. Someone owns the reproduction rights to photographs of your dining table. At this very ...

Airman, war hero, immigrant, law student, diplomat, novelist and celebrity spouse, Romain Gary had several lives thrust upon him by the history of the twentieth century, but he also aspired to lead many more. He wrote more than two dozen books and a score of short stories under several different names in two languages, English and French, neither of which was his mother tongue. Gary had a gift for narrative that endeared him to ordinary readers, but won him little respect among critics far...

The full story of one of France's greatest cinema legends, a clown whose film-making innovation was to turn everyday life into an art form.Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot, unmistakable with his pipe, brolly and striped socks, was a creation of slapstick genius that made audiences around the world laugh at the sheer absurdity of life. This biography charts Tati's rise and fall, from his earliest beginnings as a music hall mime during the Depression, to the success of Jour de F**êt...