Tag: France

Advance Review Copy, Fiction, Translation

The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain, translated from the original French by Louise Rogers Lalaurie, Emily Boyce & Jane Aitken

The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain is another playful offering from Gallic Press, whose The Suicide Shop I reviewed just last month. As he picked up his second oyster he glanced discreetly to his left. The President had put on his glasses and was reading the menu.  Daniel took in the famous noble profile, seen in magazines, on television and every New Year’s Eve for … Continue reading The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain, translated from the original French by Louise Rogers Lalaurie, Emily Boyce & Jane Aitken

tolmsted1 Comment
Book Festival, Translation

Reading Assignments for the 2013 Brooklyn Book Festival

Fall is here… more or less.  The weather is still closer to 80 than 70 degrees.  And the view from my window looks nothing like the cover of the L.L. Bean catalog that just arrived in the mail (a couple sitting on the tailgate of an old pick-up truck, a lake surrounded by pines, fall leaves covering the grass).  But it is September and in … Continue reading Reading Assignments for the 2013 Brooklyn Book Festival

tolmstedLeave a comment
Advance Review Copy, Fiction, Translation

The Suicide Shop by Jean Teulé, translated from the original French by Sue Dyson

Gallic Books is a small UK press that publishes French books translated into English. They  were founded in 2007 by two Random House alumni.   Later in September I’ll be reviewing The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain. It tells the story of Daniel Mercier, an average man who finds President François Mitterrand’s black felt hat and puts it on.  “It’s a perfect fit, and as … Continue reading The Suicide Shop by Jean Teulé, translated from the original French by Sue Dyson

tolmstedLeave a comment
Fiction, Review Copy, Short Story, Translation

All My Friends by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump

All My Friends is a book of short stories by French author Marie NDiaye.  The second book released by Two Lines Press – a new publisher associated with The Center for the Art of Translation in California, – it is translated by Jordan Stump.  I’d heard many good things about NDiaye, and Stump seems to have an affinity for translating unusual narratives, so I was … Continue reading All My Friends by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump

tolmsted5 Comments
Fiction, Literary Awards, Translation

Black Bazaar by Alain Mabanckou, translated from the French by Sarah Ardizzone

Terroir in a novel, unless it’s a historical novel, isn’t always as important as we’d like to make it.  The plot seldom hinges on it.  What I mean is – for all the hype around Nordic Crime, change the place & character names in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it could be set almost anywhere.  Bassman’s We Monks & Soldiers might be predicting … Continue reading Black Bazaar by Alain Mabanckou, translated from the French by Sarah Ardizzone

tolmsted3 Comments