Customer Reviews (1)

Jarry's work is the tangential point between zero and infinity...
So far, this is the best compendium of Jarry's work I have found. It has the full text of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician which is very difficult to find. Overall, this collection exposed me further to Jarry's work, which quite frankly I find inaccessible. After reading him I understand why he is considered the father of Surrealism and, in my opinion, Surrealism's best medium is not print, but rather art and film. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great illumination of an obscure artistic figure...
A fantastic source of info on Alfred Jarry, a genuinely seminal if somewhat forgotten artistic figure.

Jarry was the deviser of 'pataphysics' - a sort of science of surrealism, and lead a rather anarchic existance in fin-de-seacle Paris - in many ways a creative forefather to the varied likes of William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson.Jarry was best known for the riot-provoking play "Ubu Roi," which, some 80 years down the road, inspired the name (and some of the stage presence) of the band Pere Ubu.

Lennon's biography is accessible and well-researched, with a number of line drawings as illustrations, in the spirit of Jarry himself.A fascinating read.

-David Alston

Excellent for research or fun.
An exceptional and comprehensive overview of the life of Pa Ubu himself!This book is very well researched and written (and illustrated!) with a sense of humor that Jarry would have appreciated."Man With AnAxe" is by far the best source of biographical info on Jarry inEnglish.Jarry fanatics (especially those that cannot read French) shouldlook no further. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Ubu Forever!
At $ 3.99 a copy you can't go wrong. I found this in the bargain bin at a local bookstore and thought I was in an absinthe delirium. The brilliant beginning of avant-garde theatre. Don't miss it.

Roll over Dover
Silvermom's review of Ubu Roi on this site is misleading.It refers to the New Directions edition of the play, now unfortunately out of print.The Dover edition does not have the delightful line drawings, nor the added essays on theatre by Jarry.Also, I don't much care for Dover's gratuitous (and inaccurate) translation of "Ubu Roi" as "King Turd."On the other hand, as far as English translations go, Dover's is pretty much the only game in town. And Jarry's game is wonderfully worth playing, full of rambunctious anarchic high spirits. Just so you have a better idea of what you'll actually be getting.

Not just Ubu Roi!
1991 22nd printing includes; Ubu Roi, a Drama in 5 acts; The Song of Disembraining by Alfred Jarry; 2 essays on the theatre by Jarry - "Questions of the Theatre" and "Of the Futility of the "Theatrical" In the Theatre";2 portraits of author by L. Lantier and F. A. Cazals;several drawings by Jarry and Pierre Bonnard;204 drawings by Franciszka Themerson doodled on lithographic plates. Fascinating book!

Not just Ubu Roi!
1991 22nd printing includes; Ubu Roi (drama in 5 acts); The Song of Disembraining;2 essays on theatre by Alfred Jarry-"Questions of the Theatre" and "Of the Futility of the "Theatrical" In the Theatre";2 portraits of the author by L. Lantier and F.A. Cazals, several drawings by Jarry and Pierre Bonnard and 204 drawings by Franciszka Themerson doodled on lithographic plates.Fascinating little book!

supremely funny and farcical
Hugely, magnificently funny. I saw a live production of this play on an education channel some years ago. It is totally anarchic and joyful. ... Read more

Book Description
Portrays the cultural bohemia of turn-of-the-century Paris who carried the arts into a period of renewal and accomplishment, who laid the ground-work for Dadaism and Surrealism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Feast for the Soul
Shattuck's book is astounding, lyrically written and effectively framed with detailed discussions of the Parisian political and social scene around the Belle Epoque to give perspective. All of the profiles are well crafted and "Death By Hallucination" is the most insightful discussion of monstre sacre Jarry that I have read.

Anyone who reads any portion of this book is instantly at least 10% more interesting and intelligent than they were the moment before. It will clear your skin, lift your spirit and make you more attractive. Read it. NOW.

The Life of the Absurd...
Around the turn of the last century there was an unsettled fringe to "Art". There was the mainstream - formal just-so predictable and safe. The framework and structure of being an artist was beginning to fray however - the idea that "Art" should continue to evolve into something else to grow beyond the rigid box that artists and society were so comfortable with.

It is hard to put into words exactly what these four artists attempted to do to their perspective fields, painting, music and writing - they strove to both make "Art" plastic (malleable) and new - to create "Art" beyond "Art" as it were. Even the knowledgeable at the time struggled to define as they themselves exactly what they were doing...

But from primitivism in art to ubu to monotonal music to surrealism to painted neckties, these artists redefined the role of artist to their art. It would be easier to say that Satie or especially Jarry were art themselves their very state of being being "Art". Art as life or life as art or a witch's brew of the two blurred the line between being and performance (Truman Capote, Andy Warhol would have fit right into these guys as well as Timothy Leary and his LSD visionaries).

Cubism and Dadaism - modern art as we understand it today - owes a great debt to these men. Destitute, literally either one step from starvation or madness (or both), their vision of their "Art" and their willingness to bear the cost of bring that "Art" out (there were riots at performances of Satie and Jarry, Apollinaire was jailed and Rousseau was delittled)paved the way for Picasso and Dali.

This book is not a particularly easy read, it wanders between the dryness of a college textbook and an almost lyrical prose at times. And the author seems to expect some knowledge of art and the period from the beginning, a little more background would have been helpful. But I learned a lot for the effort so I would recommend the book to the interested student of the period.

If you like this sort of thing this is something you'll like
Roger Shattuck, presents a picture of avant-garde France in the period 1880-1915 as seen through the lives of four of its most prominent artists.
The belle époque, was the time before the first World War when new forms of art and philosophy were beginning to emerge.Artists began to break away from traditional concepts and to invent new ways to express themselves. For those in the avant-garde, art was not simply an object or a composition that was conceived, begun and finished. Rather they embraced the idea of being their own best works.
The institutions which had defined their society were in disarray.The social order of the past, depended on a large population of rural farmers supporting an elite few in the urban centers, was being turned upside down.
Technology was causing great disruptions in the old order as well.Events began to move faster and increasingly people began to be enslaved by the office clock and the factory whistle.To many people, the simple solutions of the past offered by the church and the government and their local community no longer seemed relevant to the contemporary world.Shattuck identifies four traits common to these artists
They all embraced childhood and a childish simplicity. Jarry's most famous work was a play, Ubu Roi, begun in elementary school.Satie wondered what kind of music a one-year old would create.All four emulated the innocence and naivety found in childhood during their adulthood.
Another characteristic was a strong sense of humor and of the absurd in the work and lives of the avant-garde artists of the time. Jarry and Apollionaire would each paint neckties on paper and wear the results to formal restaurants.Satie would annotate his musical compositions with absurd instructions to the musician and dire warnings as to the consequences if the orders were disobeyed.In their actions and their art we see them returning to the tradition of the court jester, able to speak the truth but only as a joke.
Thirdly, in questioning all that was traditional and real, these artists sought to create a dreamlike experience in the waking world.
Lastly, there was theme of ambiguity and equivocalness. They spurned the notion that art could have only one correct interpretation even their own works.
Henri Rousseau retired from being a customs inspector to move to Paris and start life anew as an artist at the age of 40.He was completely self-taught in his subject area and his work defied the style of his day.
Erik Satie was an innovative composer and musician who also served as a mentor for younger composers.Satie's compositions are filled with non-traditional instruments such as rattles and typewriters and unusual names such as "vexations".His eccentricities were well known among his contemporaries most notably that he never allowed anyone to visit the apartment where he lived the last quarter century of his life.
Alfred Jarry was a schoolboy when he got the inspiration for his greatest play.A crude unpopular teacher was the butt of school yard pranks and the subject of underground student plays.Later in Paris, Jarry would expand on those plays to create the character of Ubu a cruel and greedy man who plots to become King of Poland only to end up deposed and exiled to Paris.Ubu was the character Jarry created to comment on the human condition. Ubu's insights into his own situation echo Jarry's insight into the world. Jarry adopted much from his fictional character and over time he and Ubu become synonymous with the citizens of Paris.
Guillaume Apollionaire came to Paris at the age of twenty from Rome. He quickly was able to make a mark for himself within the bohemian cliques and in café society.Apollionaire was able to fund much of his literary work with his semi-pornographic novels. He founded a literary magazine and served as a columnist and editor on other periodicals.As a reviewer of modern art he was able to bring artists such as Henri Rousseau to the attention of a wider audience. Sensitive to his position as a foreigner, Apollionaire sought naturalization and enlisted in the French Army during the World War.He was wounded in the head and invalided out of the service in 1916 and died from the worldwide influenza epidemic in 1918.
The Banquet Years is by no means an easy read.Readers who do not posses a working knowledge of Paris in this period or of the Avant-Garde artistic movement of the time will find it difficult to enjoy this comprehensive view of the period.Places and names are often mentioned without any explanation that would assist in placing them in context.While the book provides insights into the lives and works of some artists whose influence persists down to modern times, this is not an ideal introduction to the times, but rather is best appreciated by those who already have a basic understanding of the period and its theories of art and philosophy.
Placing the review and appreciation of the artist at the conclusion of the biography would make sense in a biography for more conventional figures.However, these four attempted to direct their lives with the same inspiration that they did their art.Thus it can be difficult to understand the facts of the live of Jarry without a guide to the work that so consumed him.Shattuck possesses such an easy familiarity with the works of his subjects that he does occasionally forget to fill the reader in on the importance of the piece in question.
Shattuck has created a book which can be read on different levels by those with different interests.Art, History, and Philosophy are all equally present in this work.While it can be appreciated simply as a story of four remarkable men and four remarkable lives, to fully appreciate it, the reader must come to the book prepared to work hard for the insights it offers.

Hard to put down
I agree with other reviewers that the section on Alfred Jarry is especially strong, but the whole thing is great. Shattuck is a brilliant scholar, and a very lively writer. Presenting history from the viewpoint of a group of eccentrics results insurprises on every page. I bought this book as a fan of Shattuck's work on Proust (who gets only a brief mention in this book), and as a fan of Erik Satie (Contrary to the second-last reviewer, Satie's work is widely available, and it's well worth a listen), but now I think I'm a fan of Alfred Jarry as well; I've just placed an order for Jarry's Ubu Roi.

The Pleasures of Art and Pataphysics
Since encountering this wonderful and fascinating book during my first year in college, I have felt its influence in many parts of my life. My nickname shows the influence of Alfred Jarry and his Dr. Faustroll, even though I often identify more with the character Panmuphle. Just for introducing and explaining Jarry, Roger Shattuck's book is worth a good look. Yet another phenomenon that is more complex than its surface first suggests -- the painting of Henri Rousseau -- becomes better understood and more deeply appreciated through Shattuck's chapters on art in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. He certainly educated and influenced my own artistic preferences. And there is more, on poetry and music, but enough said. This is a book of enduring value. ... Read more

Book Description
Jarry is best known as the author of the proto-Dada play Ubu Roi, but this anarchic novel of absurdist philosophy is widely regarded as the central work to his oeuvre. Written in 1989 and refused for publication in the author's lifetime, Exploits and Opinion of Dr. Faustroll recounts the adventures of the inventor of "Pataphysics . . . the science of imaginary solutions." Pataphysics has since inspired artists as diverse as Marcel Duchamp and the 60s rock band Soft Machine, as well as the mythic literary organization the Coll ge de Pataphysique. Simon Watson Taylor's superb annotated translation (which in turn inspired a new French edition of the text) was first published by Grove Press in 1965 as part of their now out-of-print collection, Selected Works of Alfred Jarry. As a result this most important novel by Jarry has never before been published under its own title in English. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

How to Dream Your Way Through Life....
...with your host Alfred Jarry. The text is astonishing and Roger Shattuck's (author of the incredible "The Banquet Years", which is partially about Jarry) introductory essay alone is worth the cover price.

In the words of the Butt-faced Baboon, "Ha Ha!"

I finally read it!
Pardon that Narcissus' who wrote my Review Title...

This is a fantastic book!

I bought it here from amazon.com a number of years ago, 97 or 98 and I finally read it this past week. I don't want to give anything away, because it is so utterly unique and enjoyable....However, I will say: Track down this book! Demand it!

If you are a lover of the works or just plain amazing style of one of the 20th century's greatest literary artists... William Burroughs(!), then you will LOVE THIS BOOK! Heck, You'll ADORE it.

This is a trip by boat, on land... an adventure far more exciting than the Odyssey, but perhaps among similiar lines...

A journey from a middle point in life, to the extents of certain existences... and, to death... and beyond.. Finally, you will see why it started in the middle of life!

The climax is amazing, and every scene comes across like the greatest film never made.

Dali was definately influenced, as a number of scenes in here look like what Dali was to later paint!

In the end though I found myself saying only,

"Ha, ha."

And I did not lose myself in further considerations.

Except that, I would like to close by saying something I found very important, and dare I say, Life Changing:

'Pataphysics meets Psychology
Reading this book again, as I usually do on New Years Day, I started having an ether image of Doctor Faustroll, Poet and 'Pataphysician, meeting Dr. Norem, Personality Psychologist. Not to debate, but to discuss. I feel that Alfred Jarry and the good Dr. Faustroll would both understand and find etherially amusing the absurd title of her book -- the positive power of negative thinking. And they could help explain to the rest of us how psychology works. That would be nice. Or perhaps we need 'Patapsychology to stand above Freud's Metapsychological Papers. In any case, we need Dr. Faustroll to be perceptive.

Jarry's posthumous masterpiece
This is a very great book, but I could hardly recommend it. Would you enjoy it? I think it is skies above the Ubu books inits range of vision, and I certainly didn't see any baboons with gluteal musculature grafted to their cheeks starring as commentator in those more famous works . . . well, I don't know what to say this "sort of thing" is exactly . . . if you are unfamiliar with this man (a drinker in the line of Rabelais, except I would say he was much more sincerely dedicated, a scholar, a scientist, a metaphysical swine, a bicycler, an eccentric above the heavyweights of French nincompoops, a novelist, -- also he did decent woodcuts, too) and his work then I would recommend the Supermale as a better beginning. If that is indeed your brand of entertainment, than hoist this flag up on the mast of your soft and sticky palm that never picked an axe to chop a block or made a fist to fight for your principles nor did anything else in all your life except to pick up another foreign book we can all be grateful for to have been translated, and sail it gently down the seas of your eyes until you land where you were looking for . . . this is a traveler's book.

Should Be as Well-known As Ubu
Faustroll is a Hallucinogenic cross between Lewis Carroll & Jules Verne. Magnificently dense style of a prose poem, images as strange as Lautremont's. It also reminded me of Flann O'Brien's Third Policeman, the only book that has done that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Incoherent Rubbish from a Drunk
Jarry, a semi-psychotic, flaccid, career drunk, who once attacked Proust with a pen knife, and masterminded an invasion upon the Notre Dame cathedral with an army of beggars, is hardly even worth mentioning in the domain of great literature, it is in fact, a fact, that he only wrote bland comic monstrosities which aren't even very interesting.His structure is incoherent and reminscent of a lunatic who blathers out underdeveloped nonsense.Maybe if he had invested some time on organization instead of drinking Absinthe all day, he could have achieved some appreciation for great words of art.

The Only True Dada Book
King Turd is a French play written by Alfred Jarry. At the time he wrote the play he was 15 years old. King Turd is a collection of three plays Ubu Roi, Ubu Enchaine, and Ubu Cuco. He wrote the play Ubu Roi to perform with marionettes for some cash in 1888. The play was first performed with live actors in 1896.
Ubu Roi was the first to be written, it follows the story of Papa Turd and Mama Turd who try overthrowing the government to become the king and queen of Poland. Ubu Enchaine was written after Alfred Jarry some wrote other plays. It is the exact opposite of Ubu Roi following Papa Turd and Mama Turd as they try to become slaves. Ubu Cuco is a considerably headier story then the previous. The plot follows Papa Turd's encounters many gods, the higher class, and his conscience.
The story is usually considered a satire of Shakespeare. That is true, many of the characters are very similar to characters in plays by Shakespeare. But Ubu is also a satire of everything in late 19th century France. Things like money grabbing politicians and a stupid public are still around today. Therefore it is still relevant. Because Ubu Roi was written by a 15 year old it contains very simple language and is often nursery rhyme like. If you can read French it is better to read the book in French to catch all the word puns that Alfred Jarry wrote.
The character of Papa Turd is one of the most interesting characters I have ever met in a book. He was one of the first characters in a novel to use language that is still considered naughty over 100 years later. The character of Papa Turd can be seen through his master plan "start by grabbing all the money, then kill everybody and leave." King Turd is an extremely humorous book. It is highly recommended to someone who wants something more then Shakespeare and the Family Circus.

Read and Compare Translations
By my Green Candle !!Jarry is very difficult to translate from the French, so be sure to read and compare various translations to really get the feel, if you don't read French. Well worth the effort, and this volume is a fine place to start.

Wild book!
This is a school joke that has evolved into an epic! McLeish's translation takes a lot of liberties and sometimes many things are lost. On the other side, he possesses great wit and through compensation, his work comes out as one of the best translations!

Terry Gilliam meets Shakespeare by way of Troma Films!
Alfred Jarry is the grandfather of modern day surrealism, and the Ubu trilogy is a great, twisted work of genius.It reads like Shakespeare crossed with a slasher film.It's also a great parody of anything you canthink of, and it is quite hilarious.The Ubu trilogy deals with the epicrise and fall of Pa and Ma Ubu, as they become Kings of several Europeancountries, get involved in murder more than once, fight in wars, havedeadly encounters with bears in caves, and even voluntarily become slaves. Great stuff!If you like Samuel Beckett, then you have to check out Jarrytoo! ... Read more

Book Description
drama, tr Antony Melville ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Complicated Masterpiece
Most of you have probably never even heard of Alfred Jarry.I for one was a virgin upon seeing the production of this play at my school this past quarter at UCSC.Mind you, that this was the second onlymainstream production ever (the other school being Yale)!The reasons for that being that it has been the subject of many theater majors' dissertations for why it is an unstagable play.And indeed it is; in talking with the director of the UCSC production - the one I attended - he and even the cast read the play an innumerable amount of times and still didn't know what was going on nor how to even begin working with the set or blocking.Seeing it as a final process looked like it was a complete pain in the ass to pull off.But it was done well.The story is three interpretations of Jesus' crucifixion, the uprising of the Roman Empire, the murdering of Caesar, the book of Revelations and the Progenitor of the church of the antichrist.Jarry has been known for being the father of the absurdist theater, but regardless of how absurd this play is, it's a flawless effort. ... Read more

Book Description
Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) was the original transgressive author; the first word of his famous play Ubu Roi - "Shittr!" - changed the course of art and drama forever. Jarry's novels are equally outrageous, and the best of them are now again available in English. Where Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician is philosophical, The Supermale is carnal. Andre Marcueil, gentleman and scientist, has the ability to make love an infinite number of times in succession. Like a mock Jules Verne, Jarry describes the manner in which this Supermale proves his claim; after 82 times with a woman, attending doctors finally hook him up to a machine instead, with whom he merges in the book's - and the Supermale's - final climax. Barbara Wright's excellent translation, first published by New Directions, has been long out of print. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Marvel and Laugh at the Patriarchy
From the turn of the last century comes this surrealistic novel that will make you laugh at the Patriarchy and its obsessions with Technology and Phallocracy. The great Poet and Pataphysician Alfred Jarry could see, using hallucinogenic insight, the foibles and evils of his own enculturated hyper-masculinity. What a vision. Not to be missed !!

surprisingly compelling; seriously surreal
One often takes French proto-surrealist literature with a grain (or spoonful) of salt, perhaps due to the hollow stigma which Breton and others rendered the word 'surrealism.' This novel by the maniac Jarry was ahelpful reminder that he and Apollinaire and a few others were reallygetting at something compelling. Jarry's Supermale is an hyperbolic monsterof masculinity, riding 10000 miles on a bicycle at the speed of alocomotive to proclaim his desire for a certain woman, with which woman heproceeds, in order to prove a point, to copulate a total of 82 times in 24hours.However, Andre Marceuil is clearly a self-portrait;descriptions of him read uncannily closely to Jarry's own physiognomy.Marceuil is a man intent on living his art, without pretentions orassistance. The sex that occupies the latter 40 pages of this rather shortnovel (80 pages total) is surprisingly sensitive and crazy, especiallyduring a launch into a poetic hymn to Helen of Troy. Altogether a touchingand inspirational nugget of strange virtuosity. Read it and regain yourfaith in the true surrealism. (if you have lost it.) ... Read more

Book Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Drama for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the play's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Drama for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Drama for Students."Download Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to bone up for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Drama for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by the Gale Group--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the play's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Drama for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: The Gale Group--and "Drama for Students." ... Read more

Book Description