Description

Book Synopsis
In this brilliant and sobering self-portrait, Edouard Lev? hides nothing from his readers, setting out his entire life, more or less at random, in a string of declarative sentences. "Autoportrait" is a physical, psychological, sexual, political, and philosophical triumph. Beyond "sincerity," Lev? works toward an objectivity so radical it could pass for crudeness, triviality, even banality: the author has stripped himself bare. With the force of a set of maxims or morals, Lev?'s prose seems at first to be an autobiography without sentiment, as though written by a machine--until, through the accumulation of detail, and the author's dry, quizzical tone, we find ourselves disarmed, enthralled, and enraptured by nothing less than the perfect fiction... made entirely of facts.

Trade Review
"I’ll go ahead and call [Autoportrait] a work of genius..." — Wayne Koestenbaum, Bookforum

"Autoportrait is a delight the first time around and only gets better upon rereading or being read alongside Levé’s other works." —Words Without Borders

"...a beguiling and sui generis self-portrait..." —The Paris Review

Autoportrait

    Product form

    A Paperback / softback by Edouard Leve, Edouard Lev, Aedouard Levae

    £9.99

    Includes FREE delivery

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 26 Oct 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Dalkey Archive Press
      Published 26 April 2012
      ISBN-13 9781564787071
      978-1564787071
      ISBN-10 1564787079
      Also in:
      Contemporary Fiction

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      In this brilliant and sobering self-portrait, Edouard Lev? hides nothing from his readers, setting out his entire life, more or less at random, in a string of declarative sentences. "Autoportrait" is a physical, psychological, sexual, political, and philosophical triumph. Beyond "sincerity," Lev? works toward an objectivity so radical it could pass for crudeness, triviality, even banality: the author has stripped himself bare. With the force of a set of maxims or morals, Lev?'s prose seems at first to be an autobiography without sentiment, as though written by a machine--until, through the accumulation of detail, and the author's dry, quizzical tone, we find ourselves disarmed, enthralled, and enraptured by nothing less than the perfect fiction... made entirely of facts.

      Trade Review
      "I’ll go ahead and call [Autoportrait] a work of genius..." — Wayne Koestenbaum, Bookforum

      "Autoportrait is a delight the first time around and only gets better upon rereading or being read alongside Levé’s other works." —Words Without Borders

      "...a beguiling and sui generis self-portrait..." —The Paris Review

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