Overview

""A rare and wonderfully written book of literary detection that is heartbreaking as well as thrilling."" --Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient In the tradition of Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman comes Proust's Overcoat by Lorenza Foschini--the charming, endlessly intriguing story of a collector's obsessive search for the personal effects of legendary author Marcel Proust. This fascinating true story introduces readers to a truly delightful character--Jacques Guérin, owner of a perfume company in France--and enthralls them with his relentless lifelong pursuit of all things Proustian, even the author's most mundane possessions.

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9780061965678

Table of Contents

Reviews

It s exquisite, delicate, fascinating. I put PROUST S OVERCOAT on the same shelf as Serena Vitale s PUSHKIN S BUTTON and Umberto Eco s FOUCAULT S PENDULUM. --Edmund White, author of HOTEL DE DREAM and MY LIVES

I read it in two sittings and just loved it. --Andre Aciman, author of EIGHT WHITE NIGHTS

A rare and wonderfully written book of literary detection, that is heartbreaking as well as thrilling, about the 'afterlife' of a writer's manuscripts and the things he carried. --Michael Ondaatje Lorenza Foschini's delightful portrait of Guerin and his Proust obsession (translated from the Italian by Eric Karpeles). The objects themselves take on a life of their own and do a jig in this little volume. --Newsday A fascinating, quick read about Jacques Gu?rin, a guy whose obsession with Marcel Proust makes Justin Bieber fans look calm (slight exaggeration). --Nylon Magazine It's exquisite, delicate, fascinating. I put PROUST'S OVERCOAT on the same shelf as Serena Vitale's PUSHKIN'S BUTTON and Umberto Eco's FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM. --Edmund White, author of HOTEL DE DREAM and MY LIVES This sparkling, elegant piece of reportage addresses not only these particular facts and their historical ambience but also, more indirectly, larger questions of our fascination with celebrity and our passion for relics, however humble, gilded by the charisma of fame. --Boston Globe Readers pondering what manner of person created the masterpiece In Search of Lost Time will gobble up this tale of family tensions, revenge and collecting as they reflect on a literary legacy that was almost lost. --Shelf Awareness [Foschini], elegantly teasing out the relationship between family dynamics and property... highlights the role of objects and spaces in Proust's work, allowing us to see In Search of Lost Time through a different lens. --BookForum Charmingly narrated. --San Francisco Chronicle The translation by Karpeles... is seamless. VERDICT: This reviewer belonged to a group that read only Proust; we called ourselves the Proustitutes. Proust's Overcoat is urgently recommended to Proustitutes wherever you are. --Library Journal Lorenza Foschini's portrait of Gu?rin and his Proust obsession is delightful, and the objects themselves take on a life of their own and do a jig in this little volume. --Los Angeles Times Lorenza Foschini s delightful portrait of Guerin and his Proust obsession (translated from the Italian by Eric Karpeles). The objects themselves take on a life of their own and do a jig in this little volume. --Newsday A fascinating, quick read about Jacques Gu?rin, a guy whose obsession with Marcel Proust makes Justin Bieber fans look calm (slight exaggeration). --Nylon Magazine Lorenza Foschini s portrait of Gu?rin and his Proust obsession is delightful, and the objects themselves take on a life of their own and do a jig in this little volume. --Los Angeles Times This sparkling, elegant piece of reportage addresses not only these particular facts and their historical ambience but also, more indirectly, larger questions of our fascination with celebrity and our passion for relics, however humble, gilded by the charisma of fame. --Boston Globe Charmingly narrated. --San Francisco Chronicle [Foschini], elegantly teasing out the relationship between family dynamics and property... highlights the role of objects and spaces in Proust s work, allowing us to see In Search of Lost Time through a different lens. --BookForum Foschini does a superb job of driving the intrigue and depicting how and why Gu?rin fell into such an infatuation. The Prousts and Gu?rin are characters not soon forgotten. --Sacramento Book Review The translation by Karpeles... is seamless. VERDICT: This reviewer belonged to a group that read only Proust; we called ourselves the Proustitutes. Proust s Overcoat is urgently recommended to Proustitutes wherever you are. --Library Journal Readers pondering what manner of person created the masterpiece In Search of Lost Time will gobble up this tale of family tensions, revenge and collecting as they reflect on a literary legacy that was almost lost. --Shelf Awareness A rare and wonderfully written book of literary detection, that is heartbreaking as well as thrilling, about the afterlife of a writer s manuscripts and the things he carried. --Michael Ondaatje I read it in two sittings and just loved it. --Andr? Aciman, author of EIGHT WHITE NIGHTS This book is just my style. In the spirit of La Boh?me, a brilliant aria to the coat. --Patti Smith It s exquisite, delicate, fascinating. I put PROUST S OVERCOAT on the same shelf as Serena Vitale s PUSHKIN S BUTTON and Umberto Eco s FOUCAULT S PENDULUM. --Edmund White, author of HOTEL DE DREAM and MY LIVES A fascinating, quick read about Jacques Guerin, a guy whose obsession with Marcel Proust makes Justin Bieber fans look calm (slight exaggeration). --Nylon Magazine Lorenza Foschini's portrait of Guerin and his Proust obsession is delightful, and the objects themselves take on a life of their own and do a jig in this little volume. --Los Angeles Times Foschini does a superb job of driving the intrigue and depicting how and why Guerin fell into such an infatuation. The Prousts and Guerin are characters not soon forgotten. --Sacramento Book Review I read it in two sittings and just loved it. --Andre Aciman, author of EIGHT WHITE NIGHTS This book is just my style. In the spirit of La Boheme, a brilliant aria to the coat. --Patti Smith

This book is just my style. In the spirit of La Boh?me, a brilliant aria to the coat. --Patti Smith

A rare and wonderfully written book of literary detection, that is heartbreaking as well as thrilling, about the 'afterlife' of a writer's manuscripts and the things he carried. -- Michael Ondaatje

Author Information

Lorenza Foschini is an Italian journalist, writer, and television news anchorwoman on RAI, the state-owned Italian radio and television network. As a Vatican correspon-dent, she traveled around the world, covering the journeys of Pope John Paul II. She is the author of Investigation at Millennium's End, which won the Prix Scanno, and has translated Return to Guermantes, a collection of previously unpublished Proustian texts, from French into Italian. Born in Naples, she lives in Rome.

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