Synopses & Reviews
The librarian walks the streets of her beloved Paris. An old lady with a limp and an accent, she is invisible to most. Certainly no one recognizes her as the warrior and revolutionary she was, when again and again she slipped into the Jewish ghetto of German-occupied Vilnius to carry food, clothes, medicine, money, and counterfeit documents to its prisoners. Often she left with letters to deliver, manuscripts to hide, and even sedated children swathed in sacks. In 1944 she was captured by the Gestapo, tortured for twelve days, and deported to Dachau.
Through Epistolophilia, Julija and#352;ukys follows the letters and journalsand#8212;the and#8220;life-writingand#8221;and#8212;of this woman, Ona and#352;imaitand#279; (1894and#8211;1970). A treasurer of words, and#352;imaitand#279; carefully collected, preserved, and archived the written record of her life, including thousands of letters, scores of diaries, articles, and press clippings. Journeying through these words, and#352;ukys negotiates with the ghost of and#352;imaitand#279;, beckoning back to life this quiet and worldly heroineand#8212;a giant of Holocaust history (one of Yad Vashemand#8217;s honored and#8220;Righteous Among the Nationsand#8221;) and yet so little known. The result is at once a mediated self-portrait and a measured perspective on a remarkable life. It reveals the meaning of life-writing, how women write their lives publicly and privately, and how their words attach themand#8212;and usand#8212;to life.
Review
“With panache worthy of his subject, Gottlieb lays out the players as if Bernhardts life were a stage drama. His charismatic prose captures the spell of the consummate mythmaker.”—Carol Ockman, coauthor of Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama Carol Ockman
Review
"A fascinating look at Bernhardt's mythology and the stagecraft behind it. . . . What Sarah understood--as Gottlieb, a storied editor and publisher makes clear--was how the heightened drama of performance might be extended to her own life."--
VogueReview
"A delectable, witty short biography of legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt, and a decidedly unstuffy debut for Yale's Jewish Lives series."--
Shelf AwarenessReview
"Gottlieb's
Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman, giving the reader a lively sense of why, so many decades after her death, the name of Sarah Bernhardt, above all others, still stands for
actress."--Julius Novick,
The ForwardReview
"There's an amazing amount of information here, about an amazing woman. . . . This is the first English-language biography of Sarah Bernhardt, and it is wonderfully informative as well as entertaining. I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to experience it, and will never again think of her as just that woman who was famous for playing Hamlet."--
Shakespeare GeekReview
"Immensely entertaining."--Jeremy McCarter,
NewsweekReview
"An elegant and engaging portrait worthy of Bernhardt. . . a terrific book."--Glenn C. Altschuler, NPR Books We Like
Review
"Comprehensive and illuminating about many things besides Bernhardt--French anti-Semitism, sexual mores amongst the intellectual aristocracy, etc.--without being exhausting. I can't imagine Bernhardt's story being told better."--Scott Eyman,
Palm Beach PostReview
"Appropriately lively. . . Gottlieb's affable, anecdotal style suits the subject well."--Graham Robb,
New York Review of BooksReview
"Sarah Bernhardt is a gift to the raconteur. Mr. Gottlieb takes full advantage. Where he can, he stages her life as a performance, with knowing asides and a certain kind of old-fashioned fun." and#8212;
EconomistReview
"[A] sharp, efficient biography."--Emma Brockes,
New York Times Book ReviewReview
"Robert Gottlieb is true to the mystery of his subject's self-invented life. He also does what few biographers of famous women seem able or willing to do: He focuses on her work. . . . Vintage Gottleib, full of humor and refreshingly free of hagiography."--Susan Salter Reynolds,
Los Angeles TimesReview
"Robert Gottlieb's book is appropriately small, beautiful and packed with drama. . . . Mr. Gottlieb is a meticulous reader, researcher and distiller of information. . . . Although he claims we can know little about her actual performances, he manages to make them come alive. I see her and hear her, declamatory to our modern sensibilities, alarmingly natural and passionate to audiences of the late 19th century."--Kathleen George,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteReview
"One ends this breathlessly readable and deeply intelligent book in as much awe of Sarah as people and audiences were in her own lifetime; it is that rarest of books, a serious biography that reads not only like a novel, but like a big, romantic, sprawling, over-the-top novel. Gottlieb has made of her story a wonderful book--one, which, to pay it its highest due, any editor, including himself (and me), would give his or her eye-teeth to have published!"--Michael Korda,
Daily BeastReview
"Mr. Gottlieb's fluid style and lightly worn authority offer a lucid and essential modern guide to the making of celebrity, in an era before the noun existed."--Norman Lebrecht,
Wall Street JournalReview
"In 'Sarah: The Life of Sarah Berndhardt', Robert Gottlieb presents (his subject) appreciatively, in full color, in all her exuberance, extravagance, beauty, passion and talent. This is the first English-language biography in decades of the first internationally known stage star."--Sandee Brawarsky, New York Jewish Week
Review
"Gottlieb shows in this fine, sympathetic biography [that Sarah Bernhardt] put the world on a leash and added it to her own private menagerie."and#8212;Betty Smartt Carter, Books and Culture
Review
"Very readable. . . . Gottlieb holds the reader's interest throughout. . . . [An] excellent biography. . . . Recommended very highly for casual reader as well as for specialists."and#8212;Richard Weigel, Pages
Review
"Robert Gottlieb's biography of Bernhardt is very readable and covers the actress' fascinating life qutie well."and#8212;Richard Weigel, Bowling Green Daily News
Review
"Gottlieb writes about Bernhardt with convincing respect and sympathy, tempered with quiet amusement at her oddities and excesses.and#160;His lucid, conversational, urbane prose is accompanied by numerous illustrations. . . . Gottlieb's Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman."and#8212;Julius Novick, Forward
Review
"its an ambitious book, a real doorstopper. . . . Youll learn all manner of facts."—David Wood, Book Report Julius Novick - Forward
Review
"[Robert Gottlieb] does what few biographers of famous women do: He focuses on her work."—Susan Salter Reynolds, Newsday David Wood - Book Report
Review
"Robert Gottlieb presents her appreciatively, in full color, in all her exuberance, extravagance, beauty, passion and talent."—Sandee Brawarsky, Susan Salter Reynolds - Newsday
Review
Received Honorable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2010 New England Book Festival Julius Novick - Forward
Review
andquot;[This] is that rarest of books, a serious biography that reads not only like a novel, but like a big, romantic, sprawling, over-the-top novel. . . .and#160;A wonderful book.andquot;andmdash;Michael Korda,
Daily BeastReview
"Avoiding pedantry on the one hand and prurience on the other, [Gottlieb] writes about Bernhardt with convincing respect and sympathy, tempered with quiet amusement at her oddities and excesses. . . . His conversational, urbane prose is accompanied by numerous illustrations, including a splendid gallery of full-page photos showing Bernhardt in 16 of her famous roles. Gottlieb's Sarah is a fine introduction to a fascinating woman, giving the reader a lively sense of why, so many decades after her death, the name of Sarah Bernhardt, above all others, still stands for actress."--Julius Novick, The Forward
Review
'A book that is wise, funny, affectionate and enjoyable as well as blessedly compact.' and#8212; John Carey, Sunday Times
Review
"In his timely new biography, Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt, Robert Gottlieb traces the meteoric, improbable, epic life of the illegitimate daughter of a high-flying Paris courtesan who became the most famous actress in theater history."--Joseph A. Harris, American Spectator
Review
"At only 220 pages, Sarah is necessarily a breathless account of a life that would happily occupy a book three times longer; yet it makes for an absorbing, at times fantastical read, and is leavened throughout by a dry wit and affectionate scepticism."and#8212;Michael Simkins, Mail on Sunday
Review
"A fabulous story and Gottlieb has produced a brilliant short biography, telling you everything you want to know in 200 pages. Heand#8217;s especially good at analysing what Sarahand#8217;s magic was but there was so much of it youand#8217;ll have to read the book to find out."and#8212;Duncan Fallowell, Daily Express
Review
"Robert Gottlieb is a firmly even-handed biographer and his engagingly zippy account focuses particularly on exposing the cracks in the contradictory stories that Bernhardt and her hagiographers assembled about her lifeand#8230;This is a sterling biography, equal to its subject."and#8212;Olivia Laing, The Observer
Review
"Although Bernhardt's fame is universal and the literature about her immense, the major postwar English language biographies have long been out of print...Gottlieb's succinct survey is timely"and#8212;Rupert Christiansen, Literary Review
Review
"Suave, intelligent, always slyly entertaining."and#8212;Terry Castle, London Review Of Books
Review
"A riveting account of a life lived in the spotlight"and#8212;Richard Edmonds, Birmingham Post
Review
Honorable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2010 Los Angeles Book Festival
Review
"Short, witty and tenderand#8230;This book is one that your friends and family will actually want to read: a better stocking-topper for the literary-minded is hard to imagine."and#8212;Miranda Seymour, The Lady
Review
"Gottlieb does an excellent job describing Bernhardt, making her come alive for the reader or, perhaps more accurately, making her larger-than-life personality seem real. With its general overview of her life, the book serves as a perfect introduction to her personal life and her career."and#8212;Rabbi Rachel Esserman, Voice of the Dutchess Jewish Community
Review
"Sukys draws liberally from thousands of pages of correspondence and numerous diaries to create a portrait of a deeply thoughtful woman trying to make sense of history and her own life by putting it all to paper. Also of Lithuanian descent, Sukys's own meditations on the power of letters and writing make this a powerful testament to the confluence of history and individual lives and passions."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"Epistolophilia is not a typical biography, and and#352;imaitand#279; was not a typical World War II hero. For readers looking for an unconventional account of the World War II and post-war eras, as well as those interested in women's life writing, Epistolophilia is a nuanced and compelling work."and#8212;ForeWord Reviews
Review
"Sukys is to be commended for providing us with this testament and story of a little known hero. . . . The writing is done with care and precision bringing to life a woman who we might have otherwise overlooked."and#8212;Jerusalem Post
Review
"Aand#160;truly exquisite volume. . . . Conversational, erudite, and inspired: this book is exceptional."and#8212;Choice
Review
andquot;Finding the Woman Who Didnandrsquo;t Exist is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. It can appeal, on the one hand, to those interested in biographies that are also good stories. On the other, its observations of scholarship can be useful both for those who are established in the field and can even serve as a primer for those in the beginning phases of scholarship, especially when it concerns primary sources.andquot;andmdash;Richard Shryock, Contemporary French Civilization
Review
and#8220;Learned, funny, enlightening, and provocative in terms of what [this book] reveals not only about the past but about how we think in the present about the past and how we think about knowledge in general.and#8221;and#8212;Janet Beizer, professor of Romance languages and literatures at Harvard University and author of Thinking through the Mothers: Reimagining Womenand#8217;s Biographies
Review
and#8220;A research odyssey that addresses nothing less than the importance of the humanities to education and to life.and#8221;and#8212;Carol Mossman, professor of French at the University of Maryland and author of Writing with a Vengeance: The Countess de Chabrillanand#8217;s Rise from Prostitution
Synopsis
Everything about Sarah Bernhardt is fascinating, from her obscure birth to her glorious careerand#8212;redefining the very nature of her artand#8212;to her amazing (and highly public) romantic life to her indomitable spirit. Well into her seventies, after the amputation of her leg, she was performing under bombardment for soldiers during World War I, as well as crisscrossing America on her ninth American tour.
Her family was also a source of curiosity: the mother she adored and who scorned her; her two half-sisters, who died young after lives of dissipation; and most of all, her son, Maurice, whom she worshiped and raised as an aristocrat, in the style appropriate to his presumed father, the Belgian Prince de Ligne. Only once did they quarreland#8212;over the Dreyfus Affair. Maurice was a right-wing snob; Sarah, always proud of her Jewish heritage, was a passionate Dreyfusard and Zolaist.
Though the Bernhardt literature is vast, Gottlieband#8217;s Sarahand#160;is the first English-language biography to appear in decades.and#160;Brilliantly, itand#160;tracks the trajectory through which an illegitimateand#8212;and scandalousand#8212;daughter of a courtesan transformed herself into the most famous actress who ever lived, and into a national icon, a symbol of France.
Synopsis
A riveting portrait of the great Sarah Bernhardt from acclaimed writer Robert Gottlieb
Everything about Sarah Bernhardt is fascinating, from her obscure birth to her glorious career--redefining the very nature of her art--to her amazing (and highly public) romantic life to her indomitable spirit. Well into her seventies, after the amputation of her leg, she was performing under bombardment for soldiers during World War I, as well as crisscrossing America on her ninth American tour.
Her family was also a source of curiosity: the mother she adored and who scorned her; her two half-sisters, who died young after lives of dissipation; and most of all, her son, Maurice, whom she worshiped and raised as an aristocrat, in the style appropriate to his presumed father, the Belgian Prince de Ligne. Only once did they quarrel--over the Dreyfus Affair. Maurice was a right-wing snob; Sarah, always proud of her Jewish heritage, was a passionate Dreyfusard and Zolaist.
Though the Bernhardt literature is vast, Gottlieb's Sarah is the first English-language biography to appear in decades. Brilliantly, it tracks the trajectory through which an illegitimate--and scandalous--daughter of a courtesan transformed herself into the most famous actress who ever lived, and into a national icon, a symbol of France.
Synopsis
Though the Bernhardt literature is vast, Gottlieband#8217;s Sarah is the first English-language biography to appear in decades. Brilliantly, it tracks the trajectory through which an illegitimateand#8212;and scandalousand#8212;daughter of a courtesan transformed herself into the most famous actress who ever lived, and into a national icon, a symbol of France.
Synopsis
A riveting portrait of the great Sarah Bernhardtand#160;fromand#160;acclaimed writer Robert Gottlieb
Synopsis
Gisand#232;le dand#8217;Estoc was the pseudonym of a nineteenth-century French woman writer and, it turns out, artist who, among other things, was accused of being a bomb-planting anarchist, the cross-dressing lover of writer Guy de Maupassant, and the fighter of at least one duel with another woman, inspiring Bayardand#8217;s famous painting on the subject. The true identity of this enigmatic woman remained unknown and was even considered fictional until recently, when Melanie C. Hawthorne resurrected dand#8217;Estocand#8217;s discarded story from the annals of forgotten history.
Finding the Woman Who Didnand#8217;t Exist begins with the claim by expert literary historians of France on the eve of World War II that the woman then known only as Gisand#232;le dand#8217;Estoc was merely a hoax. More than fifty years later, Hawthorne not only proves that she did exist but also uncovers details about her fascinating life and career, along the way adding to our understanding of nineteenth-century France, literary culture, and gender identity. Hawthorne explores the intriguing life of the real dand#8217;Estoc, explaining why others came to doubt the and#8220;expertsand#8221; and following the threads of evidence that the latter overlooked. In focusing on how narratives are shaped for particular audiences at particular times, Hawthorne also tells and#8220;the story of the story,and#8221; which reveals how the habits of thought fostered by the humanities continue to matter beyond the halls of academe.
About the Author
- Robert Gottlieb is the author of the acclaimed Balanchine: The Ballet Maker. He writes for the New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and other publications, and is dance critic for the New York Observer. His career in publishing—as editor in chief of Simon and Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker—is legendary.