Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette (Ballantine Reader's

Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

A dazzling biography of the French literary superstar Colette,Â who is alsoÂ the subject of a major motion picture.

â€œA fine and intelligent biography of Colette, with her long tumultuous life and the great body of her work scrupulously considered and presented with style.â€â€”The New York Times Book ReviewÂ (Editorsâ€™ Choice)

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST â€¢Â WINNER OF THEÂ LOS ANGELES TIMESÂ BOOK AWARDÂ â€¢ NOMINATED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

Having spent her childhood in the shadow of an overpowering mother, Colette escaped at age twenty into a turbulent marriage with the sexy, unscrupulous Willyâ€”a literary charlatan who took credit for her bestselling Claudine novels. Weary of Willyâ€™s sexual domination, Colette pursued an extremely publicÂ lesbianÂ love affair with a niece of Napoleonâ€™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 contributed to the pro-Nazi press during the Occupation, 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, includingÂ Gigi, Sido, Cheri, andÂ Break of Day.Â

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,Â Secrets of the FleshÂ is one of the great biographies of our time.

Chosen as one of the Best Books of the Year byÂ The Village Voice andÂ Newsday

â€œ[Colette] has been the subject of . . . a half-dozen significant biographies over the past thirty years. Yet this one by Judith Thurman will be hard to top. . . . Its prose is smoothly urbane, at times aphoristic, always captivating.â€â€”The Washington Post Book World

â€œIt will stand as literature in its own right.â€â€”Richard Bernstein,Â The New York Times

â€œ[An] essential biography by a stylish writer of great sympathetic understanding and intellectual authority.â€â€”Philip Roth
Country USA
Brand Ballantine Books
Manufacturer Random House Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber part_0345371038
Color Multicolor
ReleaseDate 2000-10-31
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780345371034

Country	USA
Brand	Ballantine Books
Manufacturer	Random House Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	part_0345371038
Color	Multicolor
ReleaseDate	2000-10-31
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780345371034

Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

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