Gabrielle Sidonie Colette 
Shipwrecked on a Traffic Island [EPUB ebook] 
And Other Previously Untranslated Gems

The French writer Colette (1873–1954) is best known in the United States for such classic novels as
Gigi and
Cheri, which were made into popular movies, but she was a prolific author. This meticulously translated collection offers some of her best fiction, personal essays, articles, and talks, all appearing in English for the first time. The pieces showcase Colette’s gifts as a writer: her deep wisdom about every age of human life, her skill as a storyteller, her wry humor, her persuasive powers, and her foresight as a social critic of issues such as gender roles.



The translators combed through journals and past editions of Colette’s work to cull these gems, which cover an enormous array of topics—from French wines and perfumes to her friendships with Marcel Proust and Maurice Chevalier to uncanny insight into the curious habits of cats and dogs. Selections from an advice column that Colette wrote for the French women’s magazine
Marie Claire are also included, and her savvy suggestions for the lovelorn stand the test of time. Moving articles written during the two world wars, along with her memories of being an actor and playwright, reveal facets of her writing that are less often celebrated. The first new work by Colette to appear in English in half a century, it will delight devoted fans and new readers alike.

Table des matières

Acknowledgments

Introduction



Stories Imagined and Real

            Conversation in the Metro

            Divine

            The Woman Who Sings

            Jealousy

            By the Bay of Somme

            Makeup

            The Dancer’s Song

            Loves

            The Mirror

            Gone Fishin’

            Masked Ball on the Riviera: Cyclamen and Buttercup, or the Costume Ball of Feet

            Shipwrecked on a Traffic Island



Colette’s Advice Column

            From Denise in Despair

            From a Tormented Heart

            From Minerva

            “I love a young man…”

            Colette on Love

            Colette on Women Growing Older

            You



Memoirs of Friends

            Portrait of Marcel Proust

            Remembering Maurice Chevalier

            Portrait of the Poet Léon-Paul Fargue



Cats, Dogs, and Nature

            The Cat

            A Dream

            Toby-Dog and Music

            The Bees of Castel-Novel

            Bees

            Morning

            The Summer Beauty

            Snowdrop



War and Peace

            Their Letters

            In the Home for Blind Soldiers

            The Eyes of the Dragonfly

            Colette Speaks to Americans

            Parisians Go on Vacation—To Paris



The Writing Life

            Ways of Writing

            Letter to My Daughter

            The Young Poet

            Fashions

            Why I’ve Never Written a Children’s Book

            Children’s Books

            Scribes of the Palais-Royal

            On Growing Older



Colette’s Journalism

            Tinkerers

            The Discovery

            Poverty Exists Everywhere

            Neighbors

            The Fake Pearl

            Gold

            Laziness

            With Love

            The Silence of Small Children



Colette on Her Life

            Magic

            “Just a little bit farther…”



Movies, Theater, and Vaudeville

            Why I Love Bette Davis

            From Both Sides of the Curtain

            A Distinguished Connoisseur



French Wine, Perfume, and Dolls

            The Wines of France

            Fragrances

            Dolls

A propos de l’auteur

Zack Rogow is Associate Faculty member in the Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is the author, editor, or translator of many books and plays, including award-winning translations of George Sand, Colette, and André Breton. Raised in Paris,
Renée Morel is a translator and an instructor in French and linguistics at City College of San Francisco. She lectures throughout the Bay Area on French culture, art, and civilization, from the Gauls to de Gaulle.