• The Eleven
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Archipelago Books

The Eleven

The Eleven

by Pierre Michon, translated from the French by Elizabeth Deshays and Jody Gladding

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The Eleven, Michon lets us into the world of Corentin, a painter shaped by—and who eventually shapes—history. Brought up among provincial aristocracy to become a favorite of Parisian society—his paintings are commissioned by Louis XV's mistress—Corentin's career rides the tides of the French Revolution. His masterpiece, "The Eleven," is an enigmatic Last Supper, representing the eleven members of the Committee of Public Safety (including Robespierre and Saint Just) during the Reign of Terror. Corentin and company, his work of art, and the historical tableau of the French Revolution come to life in dazzling, even painterly, detail. A potent blend of fact and fiction, The Eleven is a beautifully written, astute meditation on the nature of history itself and the artist's role in it.

Additional Book Information

Series: Archipelago Books
ISBN: 9781935744627
Pages: 240
Publication Date:

Praise

Offering the long view, as would a novel, of life as a concatenation of a great number of events between birth and death would not suit his stylistic inclinations. Instead, he focuses on a handful of scenes and musters his exceptional style — arguably, closer to the prose poem than to narrative prose — in an attempt to make them at once palpable and emblematic. Nothing is diluted; these are heady, compassionate distillations — like cognac.
—John Taylor, The Arts Fuse

Its feeling for art, its psychological acuity, its inclination for the grand statement, and its appeal to the lofty—are multiplied throughout The Eleven to glorious ends. I cannot recommend the book highly enough.
—Christopher Byrd, B&N Review

Michon's prose tends to slow down in order to oblige you to hear its rhythms and also to see and touch and smell what is happening beneath it.
—Harper's Magazine

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