'Glamorous, cultured, moody, Lispector is an emblematic twentieth-century artist who belongs in the same pantheon as Kafka and Joyce. Benjamin Moser has brought to life her essentially tragic nature in all its complexity' Edmund White
'That rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf,' Clarice Lispector was one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary modernist writers. The brilliant, beautiful and enigmatic daughter of Russian-Jewish emigres, she achieved instant celebrity at the age of twenty-three with her debut novel Near to the Wild Heart, and became a literary icon in Latin America.
In Why This World Benjamin Moser unravels the turbulent life of an elusive genius: her birth in the nightmarish landscape of postwar Ukraine, her long exile in Brazil, her stormy personal life, her fierce talent, and how she transformed her struggles into a universally resonant art.
'One of the twentieth century's most mysterious writers is finally revealed in all her vibrant colours' Orhan Pamuk
'A smart, passionate portrait of a truly remarkable writer' Jonathan Franzen
'As Moser begins to unpeel the layers of her complicated life, Why This World sucks you into its subject's strange vortex' Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Clarice Lispector is one of the hidden geniuses of twentieth-century literature. Utterly original and brilliant, haunting and disturbing ... Benjamin Moser's biography is a great book about a Jewish heroine, filled with sympathy for what must remain hidden and what must be understood -- Colm Toibin Everything about Lispector was unlikely: her great beauty, her early fame, her unique voice, her status as an icon to the Brazilians. In Moser, she has found a gifted young biographer, social historian, and prose stylist who is able to take her elusive measure. This book is enthralling.' -- Judith Thurman Lispector is one of the summits of Latin American literature. Whether or not you know this delicate and powerful woman, this splendid biography deserves to be read. After finishing it, you will be in love with her' -- Guillermo Arriaga Glamorous, cultured, moody, Lispector is an emblematic twentieth-century artist who belongs in the same pantheon as Kafka and Joyce. Benjamin Moser has recreated all the psychological and cultural context needed to understand this great writer, and brought to life her essentially tragic nature in all its complexity -- Edmund White
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ISBN-13
978-0-14-197600-6 (9780141976006)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Benjamin Moser is the author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector, a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award. His work bringing Clarice Lispector to international prominence was recognized with Brazil's State Prize for Cultural Diplomacy. His most recent book, Sontag: Her Life, won the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Utrecht, in the central Netherlands.
