Selected Poems of Max Jacob by Max Jacob

by Max Jacob

Even though he was an important founder of modernism, companion to Picasso, Modigliani, Apollinaire, and the early Surrealists, Max Jacob has remained a somewhat neglected and little-known figure. Now this delightful and utterly original poet has been given a detailed and careful presentation in English, through William Kulik's imaginative translations. In a selection that covers the whole of Jacob's career and that does particular justice to his accomplishments as a prose poet, Kulik offers us a full and sympathetic portrait, framing it with an Introduction that sketches the biography and fills out the historical context. A divided man--sexually, culturally, artistically--Jacob moves us deeply with his steady commitment to his art and its possibilities.

Genres: Poetry, France

Paperback

First published December 15, 1999

About the author

After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career. He was one of the first friends Pablo Picasso made in Paris. They met in the summer of 1901, and it was Jacob who helped the young artist learn French. Later, on the Boulevard Voltaire, he shared a room with Picasso, who remained a lifelong friend (and was included in his artwork Three Musicians). Jacob introduced him to Guillaume Apollinaire, who in turn introduced Picasso to Georges Braque. He would become close friends with Jean Cocteau, Jean Hugo, Christopher Wood and Amedeo Modigliani, who painted his portrait in 1916. He also befriended and encouraged the artist Romanin, otherwise known as French politician and future Resistance leader Jean Moulin. Moulin's famous nom de guerre Max is presumed to be selected in honor of Jacob.
Having moved outside of Paris in May, 1936, to settle in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, Max Jacob was arrested on 24 February 1944 by the Gestapo, and interned at Orléans prison, (prisoner #15872). Jewish by birth, Jacob's brother Gaston had been previously arrested in January, 1944, deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, and gassed upon arrival with his sister Myrthe-Lea; her husband also deported and murdered by the Nazis. Following his incarceration at Orléans, Max was then transferred to Drancy internment camp from where he was to be transported in the next convoy to Auschwitz in Germany. However, said to be suffering from bronchial pneumonia, Max Jacob died in the infirmary of Le Cité de la Muette, a former housing block which served as the internment camp known as Drancy on 5 March.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I declare myself world-famous, oviparous, a giraffe,
altered, a sinophobe and hemispheric. I quench my thirst
at springs in the atmosphere that laugh concentrically
and fart at my uncertainty.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the (many) years I have picked up the works of Max Jacob. For me, always a fascinating figure in the early years of 20th century Paris. A good pal of Picasso and Cocteau, which I don't fully understand why either one of them could save him from his death under the Nazi's - but nevertheless an eccentric bright light as a personality and writer. His prose poems are superb due its compactness and wit. The William Kulik translations reads well, and i think this book came out in 1999. Most of the other books by Jacob came out in the 70s or 80s. I can't fully remember, and it will be hard for me to compare the translations - but still, a perfect book for the bus ride to West Hollywood and back. I measure a book's worth by the length of the bus ride and its enjoyment. I would think Max Jacob would appreciate that.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, is ingenious, so sad, so funny. I laugh at "In Hill Country," and I cry during "A View in Perspective." And then I cry during "In Hill Country." Such skillful prose poems. The tenuous line: "Tiny glasses and a moustache stop me dead every time, and not seeing my name on a letter not addressed to me shocks and hurts" ("Life of the Party").

[Joe Hunt]

Isn't he one of the best poets ever? Yes, I think so.

Sometimes they say he's a cubist poet--he was roommates with Picasso, for a while. But/And he out-surrealisted the Surrealists. (And that made them jealous.)

He died in the Holocaust. Pobre Max.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm rather embarrassed to admit, I had never heard of Max Jacob before watching "Genius: Picasso" on the National Geographic Channel last Spring. But it does appear I've found another poet to add to my favorites.