- 368 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
"[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
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Books by Jerzy Kosinski
- Title Page
- Copyright © 2012 by Jerzy Kosinski
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- On Autobiography as Fiction /Fiction as Autobiography
- (Photo)
- The Practice of Fiction
- Literature as Identity
- Autobiographical Aspects of The Devil Tree
- “Being There” in Toronto
- Synthesizing History
- On Writing
- (Photo)
- Conversation with Geoffrey Movius
- Parliament Of Souls
- On Fiction
- The Bilingual Vision of Reality
- Confronting the Self
- Literary Invention
- On Storytelling
- (Photo)
- Language as a Filter
- Fiction as Communication
- The Art of Storytelling
- On Censorship
- (Photo)
- The Writer’s Focus
- Defending Chance
- New York Film Critics Award
- Centurions and Free Expression
- On Autofiction
- (Photo)
- My Private Fantasy
- The Making of a Novel
- Fusing Forms
- Society and Disorder
- On Poland
- (Photo)
- Being Here
- Euphoria
- Supporting Reform
- The Impact of War
- On the Holocaust
- (Photo)
- A Monument to History
- Mind Polish
- Defining Myself
- On the Film Shoah
- On Jewish Identity
- (Photo)
- Obsession
- Being There as a Polish Jew
- Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East
- Seizing Each Moment
- Celebrating Jewish Life
- On World Affairs
- (Photo)
- On a United Germany
- A New Optic
- Banking on History
- Totalitarian Polemics
- On Sex
- (Photo)
- Club Sex
- Packaged Passion
- Keeping a Man
- Pro-Creation
- On Television
- (Photo)
- Comment
- Against Collectivization
- Television as Propagandist
- Vietnam in the New Visual Era
- On Acting
- (Photo)
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Acting vs. Writing
- Becoming Zinoviev
- About Beatty and Reds
- On Popular Culture
- (Photo)
- Blowing Your Cover
- Surviving
- Floating Lotus
- On Being There
- (Photo)
- Casting Peter Sellers
- Chance Encounters
- The Impact of Being There
- On Violence
- (Photo)
- Mrs. Rosenberg and The Painted Bird
- The Essence of Violence
- Life as Blind Date
- Signature Events
- On the American Dream
- (Photo)
- Port of Entry
- The Lone Wolf
- Experiencing America
- Acknowledgments
- Notes