Should you find yourself strolling along the coastal heights of
Douarnenez, a Brittany town near the westernmost point of continental
France, you would do well to look out for a signpost marked, "Georges
Perros (1923-1978) 'Dazzled by the sea.'" Perros, who famously made that
remark and settled there in 1959, was initially an actor but is now best
known for his literary output, which was marked by stylistic freshness
and frank criticism. Perros lived anonymously in the fishing port of
Douarnenez, scraping by as a freelance author and manuscript reader who
taught and published a few books, but mostly corresponded with fellow
writers or rode his motorcycle along the country roads. Indeed, Perros
is known for his fame-shunning habits and for choosing to take up
residence far from the sophistication of the capital city.
But behind the folksy, sometimes sighing, sometimes bitter, sometimes
sardonic, sometimes even resigned voice lurks an intensely sensitive,
highly cultivated ruminator on the human condition. He is best
remembered for the autobiographical poems collected in Blue Poems and
An Ordinary Life, as well as for Paper Collage, his compendium of
maxims, vignettes, short prose narratives, occasional diary-like
notations, critical remarks, and personal essays. Making this essential
work available for the first time in English, this book presents a
selection of these touching and thought-provoking short texts alongside
numerous maxims, a genre in which Perros excelled. With typical modesty,
the author called himself a journalier des pensées, a day labourer who
tills thoughts. As readers, we can do no better than to read the tilled
thoughts of Georges Perros.
