Oral Pleasure
Kosinski as Storyteller
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“[This] new collection of Jerzy Kosinski’s interviews and speeches reveals an Everyman who worked on his own terms . . . A most welcome body of texts that elucidates a rather mysterious persona.” —Tablet
Oral Pleasure: Kosinski as Storyteller is a collection of interviews, lectures, and transcriptions of media appearances from the legendary literary figure, Jerzy Kosinski. Compiled by his late widow, Kiki, most of the pieces here are published for the first time.
These texts bring sharper focus to the themes in his works, making this strikingly erratic individual more accessible. They provide an uncensored portrait of the writer plagued by scandal, whose authenticity was challenged by fierce accusations of plagiarism regarding his seminal novel, The Painted Bird—suspicion that shadowed his career. Oral Pleasure reveals Kosinski as a truly genuine, gifted man of letters.
The material covers different aspects of Kosinski’s eventful life, from his thoughts on Poland and the Holocaust to his experiences with acting and television. He expounds on the difficulties of writing under a totalitarian government and the importance of freedom of speech. He discusses the fine line between fiction and autobiography, the prominent role sex played in his writing and life, the philosophical importance of violence in his novels, and his controversial statements on Jewish identity.
This collection offers new insight into Kosinski’s renowned work, portraying a brilliant storyteller behind the public figure.
“Containing more than 60 documents from Kosinski’s career, the book flows like a conversation . . . thanks to the strength of Kosinski’s voice, [it is] coherent and recognizably whole. . . . Even without prior knowledge of his work, Kosinski rewards those willing to engage with his stories.” —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Having once vowed never to speak in public, award-winning novelist and screenwriter Kosinski (The Painted Bird) certainly broke that promise and the interviews, lectures, and essays compiled by his late widow, Kiki, illuminate the life he both exposed and concealed in his fiction. Kosinski (1933 1991) saw himself foremost as a storyteller, and the contents of this book are peppered with stories most significantly the tale of his own childhood, spent fleeing Nazis across the Polish countryside during the Holocaust. In discussing the craft of writing, he emphasizes the blurred line between fiction and autobiography that leads to "autofiction," which involves "openly integrating elements of my own life, in a distorted manner, into my fiction." Containing more than 60 documents from Kosinski's career, the book flows like a conversation: sometimes repeating itself, sometimes following non sequiturs onto tangential topics, but thanks to the strength of Kosinski's voice, still coherent and recognizably whole. It takes effort to get through this book the kind of concentration that Kosinski himself saw disappearing in America but even without prior knowledge of his work, Kosinski rewards those willing to engage with his stories.
