- Exiled in Paris
"Exiled in Paris" is a
1994 (reprinted2001 ) book by James Campbell, a Scottish cultural historian specialising in American Literature and culture. He is the former editor of the "Edinburgh Review " and writes for the "Times Literary Supplement ". The book itself is a study of theLeft Bank cafe society in post-war Paris, particularly the influence of Americanexpatriates , as demonstrated by its sub-heading "Richard Wright, LOLITA, Boris Vian and others on the Left Bank 1946-1960".The time frame of the book's scope,
1946 -1960 , mirrors that of Richard Wright's arrival in Paris from the US until his death. This begins with the arrival of Wright atGertrude Stein 's Paris apartment, effectively handing the baton over from the pre-war artist-led bohemian Paris of Stein,Anaïs Nin andHenry Miller to the moreliterary -focused cafe society. As the title suggests, it also coversBoris Vian and Nabokov. It ranges through theexistentialism ofAlbert Camus ,Simone De Beauvoir andJean Paul Sartre , African American writers such as James Baldwin andChester Himes , as well asFrantz Fanon andSadegh Hedayat . The book also considers the operation run byMaurice Girodias at theOlympia Press , particularly the contribution ofAlexander Trocchi to its output and the influence of Trocchi's own "Merlin", which includedSamuel Beckett andJean Paul Sartre as contributors. The book ends by assessing the arrival of theBeat Hotel on the scene, which saw the familiar ensemble of Beat writers includingAllen Ginsberg andWilliam Burroughs in Paris. The last vestige of this era can be found at Shakespeare and Company.In the UK, the book was issued as "Paris Interzone", a reference to
William Burroughs .Other books by the author
*"Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin" (2002)
*"This Is the Beat Generation: New York, San Francisco, Paris" (2001)
*"Invisible Country: A Journey through Scotland" (1990)External links
* [http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9802.html] University of California Press page
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/classics/story/0,6000,1680833,00.html] 'The Island affair', "The Guardian" Review, January 7 2006
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1410210,00.html] 'Notes on a native son', "The Guardian" Review, February 12 2005
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.