The case of the persevering Maltese : collected essays / Harry Mathews.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mathews, Harry, 1930-2017.

Contributor:

Harry Mathews Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Penn Provenance:

Mathews, Harry, 1930- (donor) (RBC copy)

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

vii, 332 pages : illustrations, music ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

[Normal, Ill.] : Dalkey Archive Press, 2003.

Summary:

A companion to The Human Country: New and Collected Stories, this volume contains all of Harry Mathews's nonfiction. These astonishing essays cover a wide range of literary topics, including discussions of complex musical forms and Oulipian techniques, to insightful commentaries on the works of Lewis Carroll, Raymond Roussel, Italo Calvino, Joseph McElroy, and Georges Perec. Throughout the collection Mathews examines the relationship between form and literature in a lucid, intimate voice, arguing with intelligence, grace, and humor for the importance of artifice.

Contents:

For Prizewinners 3

Notes on the Threshold of a Book 21

The Monkey at the Wheel 27

Fearful Symmetries 55

Translation and the Oulipo: The Case of the Persevering Maltese 67

In Quest of the Oulipo 85

The Pursuit of the Whole 91

La Camera Ardente 97

Queen Story 103

Roussel and Venice: Outline of a Melancholic Geography (with Georges Perec) 123

The Bad Dreams of Carolus Ludovicus Dodgson 147

Les Merveilleux Nuages 151

We for One: An Introduction to Joseph McElroy's Women and Men 175

Sex Real and Imaginary 213

Isidore Ducasse 223

A Valentine for Elena 239

Charity Begins at Home 255

Georges Perec 269

Vanishing Point 279

"That Ephemeral Thing" 285

Appendix Practical Illustrations

Mathews's Algorithm 301

Dormouse Poem 321.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1564782883

OCLC:

51274606