SEPTEMBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Kristin Atherton switches seamlessly from English to French as she takes the listener deep inside the Left Bank world of the surrealist artists. Beginning with the First World War and the Dada movement, the story follows Duchamp, Man Ray, Ernst, Cocteau, Dalí, and others as they create their revolutionary and controversial forms of expression, which aim to shock. Atherton’s clear reading and impeccable pacing with dramatic emphasis on phrases in French keep the listener engaged with this entertaining and detailed work of art history. Her spot-on pronunciation of names and places lends authenticity. The lives of artists are always interesting, and those who lived in Paris during the first decades of the twentieth century are especially so. J.E.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
"Roe proves a sure-handed guide on the quest for 'something more real than reality' and excels in documenting clashes both serious and silly."—New Yorker
“Untangl[es] Surrealism’s evolutionary history. In this undertaking [Roe] succeeds admirably, making sense of the by-turns anguished and playful chaos… In fixing on the emergence of Surrealism rather than its popular apotheosis in, say, the mature paintings of Dalí, René Magritte and Joan Miró, Ms. Roe leaves readers to draw their own visual conclusions. The expectation is reasonable and just as the artists themselves would have wanted. For the Surrealists’ chief revolutionary legacy lies in the credit—and role—they gave to viewers.”—The Wall Street Journal
"Roe is an elegant writer . . . [T]his entertaining, fast-paced history will thrill Francophones and art historians alike."—Publishers Weekly
"[Roe] renders with deftness and precision the strange and disturbing works surrealists produced by tapping into their emotions of ‘terror, horror, disgust, or fear.’ A thorough, well-informed survey of an art revolution."—Kirkus Reviews
“She vividly charts the birth of surrealism . . . a tale rich in absurdity and outlandish characters, from Cocteau and Max Ernst to Dalí and Picasso”—Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times (U.K.)
“Highly colourful . . . they're all here, the big names of the time - behaving badly, and, at times, quite madly too.”—Observer (U.K.)
“Brings together some of the chief protagonists in one of the 20th century's most inventive art movements. A vivid read”—Radio Times (U.K.)
“Roe is a talented writer, fascinated by la vie Boheme . . . She can find phrases that perfectly capture the feeling of a neighborhood”—John Carey, Sunday Times (U.K.)
“I loved Roe’s In Montmartre and [In Montparnasse]—a colorful, gossipy account of the birth of Surrealism . . . is equally beguiling.” —The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice (U.K.)
“Sue Roe describes with plenty of colour how surrealism was born and developed in Montparnasse . . . Roe marshals [the figures behind dada and surrealism] with great finesse”—The Times (U.K.)
SEPTEMBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Kristin Atherton switches seamlessly from English to French as she takes the listener deep inside the Left Bank world of the surrealist artists. Beginning with the First World War and the Dada movement, the story follows Duchamp, Man Ray, Ernst, Cocteau, Dalí, and others as they create their revolutionary and controversial forms of expression, which aim to shock. Atherton’s clear reading and impeccable pacing with dramatic emphasis on phrases in French keep the listener engaged with this entertaining and detailed work of art history. Her spot-on pronunciation of names and places lends authenticity. The lives of artists are always interesting, and those who lived in Paris during the first decades of the twentieth century are especially so. J.E.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine