Saint Glinglin

by Raymond Queneau, James Sallis (Translator), James Sallis (Introduction)

Overview

Queneau's tragicomic masterpiece which retells in an array of styles the primal Freudian myth of sons killing the father.

Queneau satirizes anthropology, folklore, philosophy, and epistemology while spinning a story as appealing as a fairy tale about a land where it never rains and a bizarre festival is held every Saint Glinglin's Day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781564782304
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/2000
Pages:	169
Product dimensions:	5.58(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Raymond Queneau (1903-1976) is acknowledged as one of the most influential of modern French writers, having helped determine the shape of twentieth-century French literature, especially in his role with the Oulipo, a group of authors that includes Italo Calvino, Georges Perec, and Harry Mathews, among others.

James Sallis after attending Tulane University, moved to London in the mid-60s and edited the legendary magazine New Worlds. Author of the much acclaimed Lew Griffin novels, his shorter work continues to be published regularly in literary journals such as" Poetry East", "The Ohio Review, " "High Plains Literary Review", "Washington Post Book World", and" Boston Review".

James Sallis after attending Tulane University, moved to London in the mid-60s and edited the legendary magazine New Worlds. Author of the much acclaimed Lew Griffin novels, his shorter work continues to be published regularly in literary journals such as" Poetry East", "The Ohio Review, " "High Plains Literary Review", "Washington Post Book World", and" Boston Review".

Editorial Reviews

"Queneau's funny, philosophical nonsense is addictive." -- PW

Dalkey Archive Press

"Queneau's riveting language provides an entree to complex existentialist meditations on the alienation of both fish and humans from nature and to brilliantly inventive discourses on insects. The plot is fantastical but interwoven with enough threads of reality to keep the reader turning pages. A fine rendition of one of Queneau's most important novels; essential for academic and large public libraries." -- Library Journal

Dalkey Archive Press

From the Publisher

A fable whose extravagant plot is told with Queneau's odd-matter-of-factness, and whose exhilaration comes in the small upsets. . . . A beguiling wackiness laced with mysteries . . . St. Experys Little Prince could be recounting Finnegans Wake.
Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times, 7/1/93

Los Angeles Times

He is one of those writers, like his antic compeers G. K. Chesterton, Flann O'Brien and Lewis Carroll, who inspire newsletters, fan clubs, passionate exegeses and scholarly conferences. . . . An amalgam of the anthropological and the archetypal, leavened with sex, slapstick, wordplay and philosophical investigations. . . . This novel will certainly repay readerly efforts . . . but none is required to enjoy its bizarre humor.
Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 7/22/93

Washington Post

Consider what you get here: references to and satires of mythology and Freudian psychology. Varied narrative styles, including soliloquy, interior monologue, verse, and third person. A lot of laughs. Discussions of serious philosophical issues which are thought-provoking even when hilarious. All in one slim volume.
Harvey Pekar, Austin Chronicle, 9/24/93

Austin Chronicle

Like all his fiction, it is so blissfully fizzy that the reader may scarcely notice its complexity.
New Yorker, 7/2/93

New Yorker

Raymond Queneau, that most erudite and light-hearted of experimental writers, plays his narrative games with vaudevillian humor as well as nihilistic abandon. . . . Queneau's vision in the wondrous Saint Glinglin, as in most of his fiction, is surrealism gone sane.
Bill Marx, Boston Phoenix, 7/93

Boston Phoenix