Follows the adventures of young Fabrizio del Dongo as he joins Napoleon's army just before Waterloo and stuggles to keep hidden his love for Clelia amid the intrigues and secrets of the small court of Parma.

Product Description: Adroit, inventive essays culled from a lifetime of literatureFor decades Richard Howard's stylish, deeply informed criticism has enlightened and entertained his devoted audiences. Here is a comprehensive selection of his finest essays on a splendid range of subjects--from American poets like Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore to French artists such as Rodin and Michel Delacroix, from modern sculpture to the photography of the human body...read more

The first collection of poems to span the published work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet includes fine examples of lyric poetry and fascinating monologues and fictive conversations between famous figures.

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A man recalls his childhood growing up in Provance before World War I

In his palace in a city vanquished by the years, the Duke Gonzaga lives consumed by his passion for young girls and his deep boredom. Time passes as marked by the more than two hundred clocks situated throughout the palace. When the old hourmaster and his successor both disappear, Gonzaga employs Arturo who becomes the new keeper of the palace's timepieces. Arturo -- called Gog -- also becomes the Duke's friend and for a time alleviates Gonzaga's boredom as they share the nightly clock-keeping rounds. There seems to be the beginning of new life in the realm. The hourmaster marries happily and fathers a daughter. But the Duke's restlessness and ennui return and when the hourmaster vanishes -- for reasons the reader is to discover -- time again stands still. In the words of the translator Richard Howard, Christophe Bataille's third novel "is a remarkable, even triumphant little book".

Poems and monologues deal with artists, poets, victims, families, memories, and inspiration

Two long narrative poems and a group of dramatic meditations take up a range of fascinating topics, including Proust searching for his novel's title, Rodin evading his admirers, and Virginia Woolf plotting a novel about Byron