Description
Book SynopsisIn Blaise Cendrars: Discovery and Re-creation, Jay Bochner presents a revealing account of Cendrars' life and established the imoprtance of his work in the mainstream of modern literature. Prolific and versatile, Cendrars wrote poetry, radio plays, novels, essays, autobiography, and books on the cinema. An early contributor to the Dada movement, he was at the forefront of the Paris avant-garde before and after the first world war, and his powerful poetic style influenced such writers as Apollinaire, Henry Miller, and John Dos Passos. Although he was well known to the French reading public, lavishly praised by his peers, and well received by the important critics of his day, Cendrars' critical reputation has not endured.
The first part of the book is biographical, and in this section Professor Bochner suggests that the reasons for Cendrars' obscurity have more to do with his life than his works. Cendrars himself cared little about his reputation. Although he knew most
