Description
Book Synopsis'The Useless Mouths' and Other Literary Writings brings to English-language readers literary writings--several previously unknown--by Simone de Beauvoir. Culled from sources including various American university collections, the works span decades of Beauvoir''s career. Ranging from dramatic works and literary theory to radio broadcasts, they collectively reveal fresh insights into Beauvoir''s writing process, personal life, and the honing of her philosophy.
The volume begins with a new translation of the 1945 play The Useless Mouths, written in Paris during the Nazi occupation. Other pieces were discovered after Beauvoir''s death in 1986, such as the 1965 short novel 'Misunderstanding in Moscow,' involving an elderly French couple who confront their fears of aging. Two additional previously unknown texts include the fragmentary 'Notes for a Novel,' which contains the seed of what she later would call 'the problem of the Other,' and a lecture on postwar French theater
Trade Review
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2013.
"An impressive team of experts introduces the book's 10 pieces and thoroughly annotates them. . . . This book nicely puts the philosopher's work into an expanded context for nonspecialists."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This engaging volume ... is the result of painstaking research and meticulous translation by a team of international scholars. . . . Essential."--
Choice"English-speaking readers can now hear the subleties of a Beauvoir clearly engaged in the pursuit of defining the purpose and value of literature in her time."--
H-France Review"This collection of previously untranslated pieces by Simone de Beauvoir makes available for the first time in English a variety of literary writings that are also of philosophical interest. As with previous volumes in the Beauvoir Series,
"The Useless Mouths" and Other Literary Writings breaks new ground, and it will become indispensible to Beauvoir scholars."--Claudia Card, author of
Confronting Evils: Terrorism, Torture, Genocide"This collection of Beauvoir's literary works not only presents us with further evidence of the importance of Beauvoir's existentialist literary style but also gives new insight into her thinking about aesthetics, existentialism, intersubjectivity, aging, and her relationship with Sartre. In addition, here we see some of her most incisive engagements with her critics and critics of existentialism more generally."--Kelly Oliver, author of
Animal Lessons: How They Teach Us to Be HumanTable of ContentsForeword to the Beauvoir Series ix Sylvie Le Bon de BeauvoirAcknowledgments xiIntroduction 1 Margaret A. Simons1. The Useless Mouths (A Play) 9 Introduction by Liz Stanley and Catherine Naji2. Short Articles on Literature 89 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize3. Existentialist Theater 125 Introduction by Dennis A. Gilbert4. A Story I Used to Tell Myself 151 Introduction by Ursula Tidd5. Preface to La Batarde by Violette Leduc 165 Introduction by Alison S. Fell6. What Can Literature Do? 189 Introduction by Laura Hengehold7. Misunderstanding in Moscow 211 Introduction by Terry Keefe8. My Experience as a Writer 275 Introduction by Elizabeth Fallaize9 Short Prefaces to Literary Works 303 Introduction by Eleanore Holveck10. Notes for a Novel 327 Introduction by Meryl AltmanContributors 379Index 385
