Writers

by Barry Gifford

In Writers , great American storyteller Barry Gifford paints portraits of famous writers caught in imaginary vulnerable moments in their lives. In prose that is funny, grotesque, and a touch brutal, Gifford shows these writers at their most human, which is to say at their they are liars, frauds, lousy lovers, and drunks.

This is a world in which Ernest Hemingway drunkenly sets explosive trip wires outside his home in Cuba, Marcel Proust implores the angel of death as a delirious Arthur Rimbaud lies dying in a hospital bed, and Albert Camus converses with a young prostitute while staring at himself in the mirror of a New York City hotel room.

In Gifford's house of mirrors, we are offered a unique perspective on this group of literary greats. These stories, meant to be performed as plays, are tender and thoughtful exercises in empathy. Obsessions loom large, especially a preoccupation with death. Gifford What does it mean to devote oneself entirely to art? And as an artist, what defines failure, or success?

This new edition of Writers includes five new pieces, featuring Georges Simenon with André Gide, Franz Kafka with Marcel Proust, Flannery O’Connor with William Burroughs, Ivan Turgenev with Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Joseph Conrad with D.H. Lawrence, and Willa Cather with Gypsy Rose Lee.

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2015

About the author

Barry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.

He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.

Reviews

[John of Canada · Rating 4 out of 5]

If a person was looking for a personal literary canod he or she could do worse than read the writers Gifford depicts.Smart,funny,sad and sketches worth framing.

[Jéssica Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"CAMUS
(to his reflection in the mirror)
Who are you to tell anyone how to think or feel about anything?
You lie to yourself all the time, not only to others. This is why you write your novels and essays, hiding behind Prousts dictum that literature is the finest kind of lying. You cannot stop lying. For you, it is what makes living tolerable. You are foolish to presume to understand Pixie. To attempt to reason with someone you do not understand is not merely arrogant but absurd. This is the disease of Sartre. To go on lying is your only choice, so better to be good at it."

Read this one in a flight from London to Lisbon and loved it. Now I need to read at least a book from every author that is present on this book. My favourite piece was the one featuring Camus.

[Josh Josh]

has the most beautiful line i’ve ever read in a book
“Djami and I… two ghosts… slipping through the subtle air. Sons of the sun”
like ughhh it’s so fire. i teared up when i first read it.
thx pp for the rec :)

[Rob Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a minor work in the Gifford canon. Most of the vignettes, while amusing, don't really lead anywhere; and as a collection, the scenes don't add up to any epiphanies per se. That said, there is Giiford's usual acute ear for fantastic dialogue, which makes the book a pleasant read. The best scenes are probably B. Traven/John Huston and Jane Bowles. I do wonder what it would be like to see these as a performance though.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short book, like the idea of it, but not very ambitious. It features vignette "plays": some more subtle, some more over-the-top, some just a punchline. Helps to know something about each writer mentioned.

[Mariana Proença · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book.
I loved Jane Bowles' story

[Richard B · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quirky series of short plays or vignettes involving famous writers. The plays are in my opinion of varying quality. Too often the characters seem indistinct, but occasionally Gifford seems to get it right.