Synopses & Reviews
is Albert Cossery's biting social satire about a father, his three sons, and their uncle -- slackers one and all. One brother has been sleeping for almost seven years, waking only to use the bathroom and eat a meal. Another savagely defends the household from women. Serag, the youngest, is the only member of the family interested in getting a job. But even he -- try as he might -- has a hard time resisting the call of laziness.
Review
"Albert Cossery ought to be a household name. He's that good: an elegant stylist, an unrelenting ironist, his great subject the futility of ambition 'in a world where everything is false.'" David Ulin
Review
"Albert Cossery was the bard of absolute indolence, and as you nod off with a smile over , you may wonder if there's any point to waking up - except, of course, to read a few more pages." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Cossery's heroes are the descendants of Baudelaire's flâneur, of the Surrealists with their rejection of the sacrosanct work ethic, not to mention the peripatetic Beats or the countercultural 'dropouts' of the 1960s.
Review
"Despite the seemingly unrelieved gloom and futility in which his figures move, Cossery nevertheless expresses in every work the indomitable faith in the power of people to throw off the yoke." Henry Miller
Synopsis
A portrait of a family of proud layabouts who avoid work and sleep all day by the Egyptian writer often referred to as
About the Author
Albert Cossery (1913-2008) was an Egyptian-born French novelist. Among his works are The Colors of Infamy, A Splendid Conspiracy, and The House of Certain Death, all published by New Directions.William Goyen was an American writer, most known for his novel, The House of Breath.Henry Miller (1891--1980) was one of the most controversial American novelists during his lifetime. His book, The Tropic of Cancer, was banned in the some U.S. states before being overruled by the Supreme Court. New Directions publishes several of his books.Anna Della Subin is a contributor to Bidoun and Harper's Magazine.