Journal 18871910 [Paperback]

A wry, observant masterpieceone of the singular treasures of the French fin de si?cle

Written between the age of twenty-three and his death at age forty-six, Jules RenardsJournal 18871910is a triumph of introspection and wit. One of the most celebrated figures of Belle ?poque Paris, Renard was also a prolific diarist whose private musings were first published in five volumes some fifteen years after his death. Acclaimed by everyone from Somerset Maugham to Samuel Beckett to Susan Sontag, theJournalhas had a decisive influence on contemporary letters and was named one of the 100 Books of the Century byLe Monde. It is also a singularly funny work, full of aphorisms, jokes, and sly observations on some of literatures most indelible characters.

These selections, brought together by Julian Barnes and translated by Theo Cuffe, offer unparalleled and unfailingly entertaining glimpses of a bygone world. Moving from modish Parisian salons to the French countryside, where Renard served as a provincial mayor in the final years of his life, theJournalis a portrait of a society in flux and a playground for one of the eras great prose styles. Here, Renard confirms his place among Frances most dazzlingly inventive writers.

Jules Renard(18641910) was a French author and member of the Acad?mie Goncourt. A habitu? of Parisian literary circles, he was the author of numerous novels and plays, among themCarrot TopandNatural Histories. HisJournal, widely considered his masterpiece, was published posthumously between 1925 and 1927.

Julian Barnesis the Booker Prizewinning author ofThe Sense of an Endingand numerous other books.

Theo Cuffeis known for his translations of classic French literature, including VoltairesCandideandMicrom?gas and Other Short Fictions.

In his diary, Renard, always funny and frank, translates his daily adventures intl3=