Like the “anal-retentive” personality that I am, I usually read the complete works of novelists – in chronological order – from start to finish. This, in order to understand their development and the “story” in a long-term context. I was excited to read “Funeral Rites” and “The Thief’s Journal”, so I decided to read them before “Querelle” … big mistake on my part! Jean Genet drove me nuts. When I got halfway through “The Thief’s Journal” (Journal du voleur – 1949), we were sworn enemies, and I literally threw the goddamned book across my loft apartment in NYC. Weeks later I took up the reading again and progressed. By the time I had read “Querelle” I had fallen deeply in love with Genet, and he has been one of my “eternal lovers” ever since.
Good art and good artists always turn me on …
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