The Posthumous Works of Thomas Pilaster

by Éric Chevillard, Chris Clarke (Translator)

Fiction. Translated by Chris Clarke. The literary world owes a great debt of gratitude to the executors who, charged with burning the remaining papers of their authorial charges, refuse, instead publishing them for the fanatic and meddlesome among us. Collected here are the remaining unpublished works --diaries and drafts, aphorisms and ephemera --of the late Thomas Pilaster, compiled by Marc-Antoine Marson, a longtime friend and fellow writer with whom Pilaster maintained a healthy rivalry. With rough edges and glints of genius present in equal measure, scholars and lay-readers alike will treasure these curious texts --"So Many Seahorses," "The Vander Sons Company," and "Three Attempts at the Reintroduction of the Man-Eating Tiger Into Our Countryside," to name a few --for generations to come.

Genres: France

175 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 1999

About the author

Éric Chevillard is a French novelist. He has won awards for several novels including La nébuleuse du crabe in 1993, which won the Fénéon Prize for Literature.

His work often plays with the codes of narration sometimes to the degree that it is even difficult to understand which story is related in his books, and has consequently been classified as postmodern literature. He has been noted for his associations with Les Éditions de Minuit, a publishing-house largely associated with the leading experimental writers composing in French today.

Reviews

[Chuck LoPresti]

I laughed out loud often while deciding that I’ll never write because I might leave something behind like So Many Seahorses. There’s a nesting doll of criticism that involves you, the reader, adding your own critical footnotes to the dialog between writer and friend/editor/rival. Quixotic and Rabelaisean, of course. As the subtle criticism increases to a full blown scathing assault on the mediocrity at hand it becomes more hilarious. Having already demolished Nisard you might question why Chevillard continues to unleash on a crappy human making crappy art. Why not? When it’s this well executed, more please. If you want to luau with LaRochefoucauld or strut with Sologub you’ll be chuffed by Chevillard. Worth it for the chapter of aphorisms that read like Renard with a head injury or LaFontaine after 6 days of living on pine needles and little sleep alone. Can you handle the "Diminished Capacities" that contain Pilaster's final offerings in the form of Haiku? It’s so stupid it’s smart. Really a great time. Sucking at writing is a ton of fun for Chevillard and his readers.

Here's a few examples of what awaits:

"The blackbird's trademark certifies the best cherries - insist on it."

"Creep silently like the strawberry plant."

"I'm spitting fire
in the city square
discretely in my hankie"

1. Spoiler alert****** the editor gets the last word.

[BAM44]

Le plus grand styliste ajd, pas de débat

[Răzvan Ursuleanu]

“Criticii care își încep în fiecare săptămână recenziile cu aceste cuvinte “Această carte aduce în sfârșit o gură de aer proaspăt în tristul deșert al literaturii contemporane!” (Și e chiar adevărat în privința celor mai multe dintre cărțile respective, dacă le răsfoiești foarte repede și foarte aproape de față.)”

și

“Un text literar scris dintr-o suflare e cu siguranță o reușită dacă ai suflat drept spre coșul de gunoi.”

Pentru “Opera postumă a lui Thomas Pilaster” se aplică doar “Această carte aduce în sfârșit o gură de aer proaspăt în tristul deșert al literaturii contemporane!”

Cartea a fost totuși pentru mine îngrozitor de obositoare, pentru că de câteva ori am obosit îngrozitor râzând în hohote pagină după pagină.

[Gwendolune]

Il doit y avoir pleins de choses vraiment intéressantes à dire sur le livre en l'étudiant, a lire c'est un peu compliqué si on a pas les notions et le contexte derrière je pense, mais en vrai il reste d'une certaine poésie que j'ai bien aimé