From the sizzling sharpness of freshly cut garlic to the cool tang of a father's aftershave; the heady intoxication of a fumbled first kiss to the anodyne void of disinfectant and death, this is a decadently original olfactory memoir. In sixty-three elusive episodes we roam freely across the countryside of Lorraine, North-East France, from kitchen to farm to a lover's bed. Recognising the bittersweet nostalgia of a scent that slips away on the summer breeze, Claudel demonstrates again his impeccable grasp of the personal and the universal, interweaved with a rare self-deprecating charm. This is an evocative patchwork at once earthy and ethereal, erotic and heart-breaking. Claudel permits us a glimpse of moments that have driven him to delight or despair, creating through the fading aromas of the past fragments of humour, insight and quite intangible beauty.
Biografie (Philippe Claudel)
Philippe Claudel, geboren 1962 in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, Schriftsteller und Dramatiker, veröffentlichte bisher mehrere Romane. Ihm gelang die große Sensation des französischen Bücherherbstes 2003: «Die grauen Seelen» wurde mit dem Prix Renaudot ausgezeichnet, zum Buch des Jahres gewählt und stand monatelang auf Platz 1 der Bestsellerliste.