Montagu, Mary Wortley Lady

#2

"A landmark of postmodern American fiction, Letters is (as the subtitle genially informs us) "an old time epistolary novel by seven fictitious drolls & dreamers each of which imagines himself factual." Seven characters (including the Author himself) exchange a novel's worth of letters during a 7-month period in 1969, a time of revolution that recalls the U.S.'s first revolution in the 18th century - the heyday of the epistolary novel. Recapitulating American history as well as the plots of his first six novels, Barth's seventh novel is a witty and profound exploration of the nature of revolution and renewal, rebellion and reenactment, at both the private and public levels. It is also an ingenious meditation on the genre of the novel itself, recycling an older form to explore new directions, new possibilities for the novel."--BOOK JACKET.

#3

1975

""I am leaving to Tahiti where I shall hope to end my days. My art...I regard as no more than a tender shoot, though one that I hope to develop into a wild and primitive growth.... The European Gauguin has ceased to exist and nobody will ever see any of his works here again."" "With these words, Paul Gauguin set off on a voyage that would not only irrevocably change his own life and work, but also the entire course of modern art. This volume combines for the first time the artist's public expressions of his world - his paintings - with his private correspondence - to his estranged wife, his agent, and his illustrious contemporaries such as Strindberg and van Gogh. Gauguin vividly describes his creative movements as well as the details of his daily life, most poignantly his consuming worries about health and finances." "The book is illustrated throughout with many of Gauguin's most ambitious and beautiful canvases. Watercolors and pencil sketches illuminate the early stages of these major works, and illustrated journal pages and rare vintage photographs reveal the people and places he knew." "An invaluable insight into Gauguin's life, this volume is equally important for its determined look at the transgressive spirit of those artists who challenge the conventions of their time to create an art of the future."--BOOK JACKET.