Description
Book SynopsisFeatures a biography of the Romanian-born French philosopher E M Cioran that focuses on his formative years as a mystical revolutionary attracted to right-wing nationalist politics in interwar Romania, his writings of this period, and his self-imposed exile to France in 1937.
Trade Review[Searching for Cioran] tells the story of his Romanian years and gives a fine account of the personal and political circumstances in which both his philosophical ideas and his brand of nationalism were formed. November 11, 2010
* The New York Review of Books *
This is a graceful study of a disputed period in Cioran's intellectual biography and personal life. With subtle sophistication and intimate knowledge of the subject . . . the author has sought to recreate Cioran's Romanian roots and his local and universal intellectual sources, in what, it was hoped, would become Cioran's ultimate scholarly biography. . . . Although the author's untimely death precluded the book's completion, no one will deny that what Zarifopol-Johnston has achieved is arguably one of the most audacious analyses to date of Cioran's life and writings. One can only hope that future studies will be as compelling and provacative, and thus complete the ambitious scholarly agenda set up by Zarifopol-Johnston.Spring 2010
* Slavic Review *
Zarifopol-Johnston seeks to understand Cioran rather than accuse him. . . . [She] points out both continuities and rifts between the thought of the 'Romanian' Cioran and the 'French' Cioran. . . . Searching for Cioran offers valuable material about an important writer's early life.January 25, 2009
* Washington post *
Table of ContentsContents
Editor's Preface
Note on Romanian Spelling and Pronunciation
Foreword by Matei Calinescu
Chronology: E. M. Cioran
Part 1. The Romanian Life of Emil Cioran
Introduction: Cioran's Revenge
1. Răşinari, Transylvania, 1911–1921
2. Sibiu, 1921–1928
3. Bucharest, 1928–1933
4. Berlin, 1933–1935
5. Romania's Transfiguration, 1935–1937
6. Romania's Transfiguration, Continuing Controversy
7. Tears and Saints, 1937
8. Stranger in Paris
9. Conclusion: The Lyrical Virtues of Totalitarianism
Part 2. Memoirs of a Publishing Scoundrel
Prelude
Paris, 1992–1994
Romania, 1994
Paris, 1995
Romania, 1995–1997
Postlude
Appendixes
Appendix 1: Another Family
Appendix 2: Articles by Cioran in Romanian journals reflecting his experience in Germany
Notes
Bibliography
Biographical Note
Index
