While working one day at my desk, which was separated from the bank lobby only by a partition, I looked up suddenly into the grinning, absurd face of Benjamin Péret. “Kind sir,” he oozed from that wide mouth of his while Breton hung back to laugh at me, “the authorities have decreed that every bankContinue reading “From Book 3: Hazing”
Author Archives: nonpersonne
From Book 2: Jacques Vaché
Author’s note: Jokes about and variations on the slur “po-wet” and references to the Three Musketeers are central to the novels. The blindfold came off and I looked around, bewildered, as we entered the metro again. It was jammed with people. “Toward Charenton!” Roger announced, seeing my blank look. “To check ourselves in?” IContinue reading “From Book 2: Jacques Vaché”
From Book 2: Insulting Priests
Consumed by guilt, I haunted the streets and the cafés, though I was beginning to tire of the crowds of sullen businessmen, and the snippy flirts who never fell in love, and the cynical young bohemians leaning over their tables to interrupt each other. Although I had not approached the Surrealist Research Bureau since thatContinue reading “From Book 2: Insulting Priests”
From Book 3: Lise Deharme
This is the night of Balthus’s suicide attempt. Previous scene here. “Desnos really wants to get Artaud into radio,” Deharme said gently to me as the car pulled forward, guided by our faceless driver. “Artaud has a great voice for it; his portrayal of Fantômas was unforgettable! I’ve appreciated working with him. It’s a pityContinue reading “From Book 3: Lise Deharme”
From Book 1: Correspondence with Jacque Riviere
Buy book one, Traitor Comet! An idea occurred to me that I long resisted but find very attractive… Why don’t we publish, instead of your poems, our correspondence? I have reread it, and your January 29 letter is particularly remarkable. Perhaps we should include a bit of your poetry, or your essay on Uccello? TheContinue reading “From Book 1: Correspondence with Jacque Riviere”
From Book 3: A Tragic Misdiagnosis
Author’s note: In adolescence Artaud was diagnosed with hereditary syphilis. He denied this and I doubt he had it. However, Artaud sought out doctors for various cures that may have done him even more damage. This paper describes the consequences of a tragic misdiagnosis. At last I convinced Artaud to see my own doctor,Continue reading “From Book 3: A Tragic Misdiagnosis”
From Book 3: Let Us Péret
The next day Artaud took me to see a friend of his who was in Paris for a few weeks, Jean Painlevé. The man had both filmed and co-starred with Artaud in a cinematic snippet in 1927, Mathuselam or the Eternal Bourgeois, which was interspersed with the live performance of a play of theContinue reading “From Book 3: Let Us Péret”
From Book 3: Nin and the Cane
Author’s note: Artaud’s cane disturbed people, but Breton had one (and he used it as a weapon), Anaïs Nin’s father had one (and killed a cat with it), and Nin’s lover/psychoanalyst René Allendy beat her with one – but only Antonin Artaud got locked up in asylums. Though Artaud’s later embrace of celibacy (or shamContinue reading “From Book 3: Nin and the Cane”
From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part Two
Again, I use the diary of Anais Nin as a resource because I think it accurate about events, but not interpretations. Franz, for his part, came to the supper table at night irritated at the French attitude toward money. “I’m sick of their peasant thrift,” he grumbled. “All these hard-headed villagers are flocking toContinue reading “From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part Two”
From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part One
Author’s note: If I could go back in time I would definitely protect him from this venomous female. In the light from the lamp in the kitchen we ate and listened to the storm. I saw him examine me for a moment before he spoke again. I wasn’t so dim that I could notContinue reading “From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part One”