In this brilliant and sobering self-portrait, Édouard Levé hides nothing from his readers, setting out his entire life, more or less at random, in a string of declarative sentences.
Autoportrait is a physical, psychological, sexual, political, and philosophical triumph. Beyond ‘sincerity, ‘ Levé works toward an objectivity so radical it could pass for crudeness, triviality, even banality: the author has stripped himself bare. With the force of a set of maxims or morals, Levé’s prose seems at first to be an autobiography without sentiment, as though written by a machine—until, through the accumulation of detail, and the author’s dry, quizzical tone, we find ourselves disarmed, enthralled, and enraptured by nothing less than the perfect fiction… made entirely of facts. Shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award in 2013.
About the author
Édouard Levé (1965-2008), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a writer, photographer, and visual artist. Levé was the author of four books of writing Oeuvres, Journal, Autoportrait, and Suicide and three books of photography.
Lorin Stein is an American critic, editor, and translator. He was the editor in chief of The Paris Review until 2017.
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