Blaise Cendrars: The Invention of Life - Hardcover

by Eric Robertson (Author)

A new account of the life and work of innovative, pseudonymous French poet, novelist, essayist, and film writer Blaise Cendrars.

In 1912 the young Frédéric-Louis Sauser arrived in France, carrying an experimental poem and a new identity. Blaise Cendrars was born. Over the next half-century, Cendrars wrote innovative poems, novels, essays, film scripts, and autobiographical prose. His groundbreaking books and collaborations with artists such as Sonia Delaunay and Fernand Léger remain astonishingly modern today. Cendrars's writings reflect his insatiable curiosity, his vast knowledge, which was largely self-taught, and his love of everyday life.

In this new account, Eric Robertson examines Cendrars's work against a turbulent historical background and reassesses his contribution to twentieth-century literature. Robertson shows how Cendrars is as relevant today as ever and deserves a wider readership in the English-speaking world.

Author Biography

Eric Robertson is professor of modern French literary and visual culture at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published widely on the European avant-garde, and his books include Arp: Painter, Poet, Sculptor.