Synopses & Reviews
A Kind of Testament is part autobiography and part justification of the life's work of one of Poland's most important novelists and playwrights. Written in France in 1968, this personal testimony is more than just a life history or a critique of his work. A Kind of Testament stands as a testament to how Gombrowicz came to be the person and writer that he was and overlap between the two.
Review
"In his native Poland he is something of a saint--both a literary icon and a hero of bored school kids." The Washington Times
Review
"[Gombrowicz is] one of the profoundest of the late moderns." John Updike
Review
"What we have here is an unusual manifestation of a writing talent." Bruno Schulz
Review
"Gombrowicz's art cannot be measured with the passing of decades. It is a monument of Polish prose." Czeslaw Milosz
Synopsis
"Gombrowicz is one of the most original and gifted writers of the twentieth century: he belongs at the very summit, at the side of his kindred spirits, Kafka and Céline."--The Washington Post
About the Author
Awarded the International Publishers' Prize in 1967, Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969) published various novels, plays, and essays during his lifetime, including Ferdydurke, Pornografia, and Trans-Atlantik. Born in Poland, Gombrowicz spent most of his adult life in Argentina, living in relative obscurity and isolation, working in a bank and writing in his spare time. After his return to Europe in 1963, Gombrowicz became internationally famous when several of his plays were staged in Paris.Alistair Hamilton, a literary translator, editor, and professor, was the translator of several of Witold Gombrowicz's works. An author himself, Hamilton has written several books about religion and the Bible.