Double Game

The original edition of Double Game, published by Violette Editions in 1999, was the first important book by Sophie Calle to be published in English and earned fervent international praise for its concept, content and stunning design. Writing for Bookforum, Barry Schwabsky called this elegant, ribbon-wrapped compendium My vote for the most beautiful art book of 1999. And Eye magazine judged it, That rare thing, an artist's monograph that is actually a work of art in and of itself, a furthering of Calle's vision. That edition quickly sold out and has since been out of print.

This new edition, published to coincide with the 2007 Venice Biennale, at which Calle represented France, is identical in content to the first, and reprises all of the cherished qualities of the original in a smaller hardback format--including the signature ribbon around its middle.

The story begins with Maria, the fictional character in Paul Auster's novel, Leviathan. Most of Maria's works are, in fact, based on those of Sophie Calle. The first section of Double Game takes us through the few original works by Maria that Sophie makes her own, shown both in their fictional context and illustrated by Calle's actual reproduction of them. The second section takes the story further into the heart of Calle's world, with a series of Calle's seminal narrative and abstract works in text and images that were appropriated by Maria in Leviathan. The third section of the book takes the dialogue directly to Maria's inventor, Paul Auster, who in turn takes Calle as his subject, inventing for her the Gotham Handbook, which offers Personal Instructions for SC on How to Improve Life in New York City (Because she asked...).