LEADER 04676nam 2200673Ia 450 001 9910779140203321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-283-89093-3 010 $a0-8122-0320-8 024 7 $a10.9783/9780812203202 035 $a(CKB)2550000000104510 035 $a(OCoLC)802049504 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10576037 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000750933 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11409464 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000750933 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10751137 035 $a(PQKB)10409054 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse19909 035 $a(DE-B1597)449193 035 $a(OCoLC)979580418 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780812203202 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3441597 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10576037 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL420343 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3441597 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000104510 100 $a20010801d2002 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aRomain Gary$b[electronic resource] $ethe man who sold his shadow /$fRalph Schoolcraft 210 $aPhiladelphia $cUniversity of Pennsylvania Press$dc2002 215 $a1 online resource (227 p.) 225 1 $aCritical authors & issues 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-8122-3646-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [189]-203) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tPreface --$tAbbreviations --$tIntroduction --$t1. The Invention of Romain Gary, 1935-1952 --$t2. The Consecration of Romain Gary, 1952-1961 --$t3. Strategies of Mobile Identity, 1961-1973 --$t4. The Invention of Emile Ajar, 1974-1975 --$t5. The Consecration of Emile Ajar, 1975-1980 --$tConclusion --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tIndex --$tAcknowledgments 330 $aIn this book Ralph Schoolcraft explores the extraordinary career of the modern French author, film director, and diplomat-a romantic and tragic figure whose fictions extended well beyond his books. Born Roman Kacew, he overcame an impoverished boyhood to become a French Resistance hero and win the coveted Goncourt Prize under the pseudonym-and largely invented persona-Romain Gary. Although he published such acclaimed works as The Roots of Heaven and Promise at Dawn, the Gaullist traditions that he defended in the world of French letters fell from favor, and his critical fortunes suffered at the hands of a hostile press. Schoolcraft details Gary's frustrated struggle to evolve as a writer in the eye of a public that now considered him a known quantity. Identifying the daring strategies used by this mysterious character as he undertook an elaborate scheme to reach a new readership, Schoolcraft offers new insight into the dynamics of authorship and fame within the French literary institutions. In the early 1970's Gary made his departure from the conservative literary establishment, publishing works that boasted a quirky, elliptical style under a variety of pseudonymous personae, the most successful of which was that of an Algerian immigrant by the name of Emile Ajar. Moving behind the mask of his new creation, Gary was able to win critical and popular acclaim and a second Goncourt in 1975. But as Schoolcraft suggests, Gary may have "sold his shadow"-that is, lost his authorial persona-by marketing himself too effectively. Going so far as to recruit a cousin to stand in as the public face of this phantom author, Gary kept the secret of his true authorship until his violent death in 1980 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The press reacted with resentment over the scheme, and he was shunned into the ranks of literary oddities. Schoolcraft draws from archives of the several thousand documents related to Gary housed at the French publishing firms of Gallimard and Mercure de France, as well as the Butler Library at Columbia University. Exploring the depths of a story that has long remained shrouded in mystery, Romain Gary: The Man Who Sold His Shadow is as much a fascinating biographical sketch as it is a thought-provoking reflection on the assumptions made about identities in the public sphere. 410 0$aCritical authors & issues. 606 $aAuthors, French$y20th century$vBiography 610 $aAutobiography. 610 $aBiography. 610 $aCultural Studies. 610 $aLiterature. 615 0$aAuthors, French 676 $a843/.912 676 $aB 700 $aSchoolcraft$b Ralph W$01322540 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910779140203321 996 $aRomain Gary$93757899 997 $aUNINA