Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel

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Poet and prodigy Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) died young but his extraordinary poetry continues to influence and inspire - fans include Dylan, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith. His long poem Un Saison en Enfer and his collection Illuminations are central to the modern canon. Having sworn off writing at the age of twenty-one, Rimbaud drifted around the world from scheme to scheme, ultimately dying from an infection contracted while gun-running in Africa. He was thirty-seven. Distinguished biographer, novelist, and memoirist Edmund White brilliantly explores the young poet's relationships with his family and his teachers, as well as his notorious affair with the older and more established poet Paul Verlaine. He reveals the longing for a utopian life of the future and the sexual taboos that haunt Rimbaud's works, offering incisive interpretations of the poems and his own artful translations to bring us closer to this great and mercurial poet.

Reviews

"'A wonderful biography, filled with energy and life, driven as if by a lightning flash... Rimbaud's life was a circle of fire and suffering. This book contains it.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times 'White debunks some of the widely held misconceptions about the original enfant terrible of French poetry... He puts simplicity at the reader's service, yet is not afraid to offer his own startling imagery... Rimbaud shines a light on some of the most beautiful verse in modern poetry.' Financial Times 'White's abiding kinship with Rimbaud give's this restless soul's well-travelled tale new fire.' Vanity Fair 'White retells this unparalleled story in lucid, easy style... His sympathy for Rimbaud, particularly in his late years of exile and loneliness, is often quite moving... A good lively introduction.' Kevin Jackson, Sunday Times"

Author Bio

Edmund White is a renowned author and literary and cultural critic. He is the author of biographies of Genet and - in the Penguin Lives series - of Proust, and of eight novels, most recently Hotel de Dream. He teaches at Princeton and lives in New York City.