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Barthes, Roland (Translated by Richard Howard) : Roland Barthes By Roland Barthes

Hill And Wang, New York City, NY, 1977

ISBN 0809082454

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 186 pages. The author's second autobiographical writing. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The second book in the final and greatest work by Roland Barthes, the trilogy that he began with "A Lover's Discourse: Fragments" (1977) and concluded with "Camera Lucida: Reflections On Photography" (1980, published posthumously in English in 1981). The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Roland Barthes' "Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes" in a felicitous English translation. Profoundly personal confessions about his life. The book is by, of, and most important, FOR the author himself. Since that sounds like the "tell-all" memoir (which it is not), it is important to clarify what Barthes' book is: A revelation, in the coolly detached French/Continental intellectual mode, where every (concrete) detail is intimately described in order to amplify a larger (abstract) idea. It is, to borrow Sartre's inimitable phrase, "the observer in the act of observing". "Never before has Barthes spoken so freely, so joyously, precisely when he speaks so strictly, so severely about 'him'. Barthes is first and foremost, a writer, a man for whom the imaginative manipulation of language affords the means of life, the justification of his existence, the articulation of his identity" (Richard Howard). Discretion, elegance, and subtlety set Barthes' book apart from the vulgar memoir, especially of the Anglo-American kind. The more Barthes tells us about himself, the more distant he becomes, to himself and to us, his readers. The more Barthes reveals to us, the more we realize how little we can ever really know him (or ourselves). So why bother to write and to read? Answer: To liberate oneself from the limits of formal writing in order to re-invent writing as a work of the highest achievement. Therein lies his book's and trilogy's greatness and wisdom. An absolute "must-have" title for Roland Barthes collectors. This title is a great book. This is one of few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. The greatest European culture critic of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ROLAND BARTHES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0809082454.

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