Book picks similar to
Donogoo-Tonka or the Miracles of Science: A Cinematographic Tale by Jules Romains


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The Brave


Gregory McDonald - 1991
    With his family, Rafael lives on the edge of the refuse heap in a forgotten corner of America's Southwest. Desperately poor, he is determined to give his family some respite from their dire poverty, even if it means trading his own life to do it.Rafael finds a man who says he will pay many thousands of dollars in exchange for his life: and so he agrees to "star" in a snuff film.

The Cursed Poets


Paul Verlaine - 1884
    Rimbaud, the boy with whom Verlaine had had his infamous affair, Mallarmé, and Verlaine himself need little introduction; figures such as Tristan Corbière and Jules Laforge, a major influence on the poetry of T.S. Eliot, were lesser known at the time, but are now recognized as major figures. Marceline Desbordes-Valmore is still unknown outside the francophone world, though Goya painted her portrait and Stefan Zweig wrote a study of her. Villiers de L'Isle-Adam is an ultimate Symbolist, after whose drama Edmund Wilson titled his Axel's Castle. The translator lives in New York City.

How I Wrote Certain of My Books


Raymond Roussel - 1935
    His unearthly style based on elaborate linguistic riddles and puns fascinated the Surrealists and famously influenced the composition of Marcel Duchamp's -Large Glass, - but also affected writers as diverse as Gide, Robbe-Grillet and Foucault (author of a book-length study of Roussel). The title essay of this collection is the key to Roussel's method, and it is accompanied by selections from all his major works of fiction, drama and poetry, translated by his New York School admirers John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch and Harry Mathews, and the painter and author Trevor Winkfield. Ashbery writes that Roussel's work is -like the perfectly preserved temple of a cult which has disappeared without a trace... we can still admire its inhuman beauty, and be stirred by a language that seems always on the point of revealing its secret.-

My Fault


Billy Childish - 1991
    Stumbling onward into adolescence he lays bare a young man's desperate attempts to make sense of a world distorted by alcohol, bullies and yes men, This striking first novel, or 'creative confession', is at turns hilarious and harrowing. Laced with lindes of unforgettable poetry it is that rare and wonderful thing - a book which had to be written.

the room


Jean-Paul Sartre
    

Midnight Movie


Tobe Hooper - 2010
    . . literally. As the death toll mounts, Tobe embarks on a desperate journey to understand the film’s thirty-year-old origins—and put an end to the strange epidemic his creation has set in motion.  Featuring the terror, humor, and sly documentary style Hooper devotees remember from such classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Midnight Movie is vintage Tobe Hooper, again demonstrating the director’s place as one of the godfathers of modern horror.

Great Days


Donald Barthelme - 1979
    This new collection of stories marks a departure in Barthelme's work with the introduction of a new mode in which he abandons all forms of characterization other than dialogue in an attempt to shift and alter reader expectations and perceptions

Joko’s Anniversary


Roland Topor - 1969
    More than just a clever piece of black humour, in Joko's Anniversary Topo urges the reader to a very serious consideration of the potential degredation of any individual by society.

L'Enfant Noir: De Camara Laye


Irène Assiba d'Almeida - 2004
    The list of works for the 2008 exam include: Le Cid, L'Ecole des femmes, Candide, Pierre et Jean, Moderato Cantabile, Une Tempête and La Poésie (updated for 2008 exam.)

Boeing-Boeing: A Farce in Two Acts


Beverley Cross - 2011
    He keeps "one up, one down and one pending" until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Paris and Bernard's apartment at the same time.

Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer


Kenneth Patchen - 1948
    The hilarious saga of Alfred Budd of Bivalve, New Jersey - a Candide-like innocent and part-time pornographer, written with what Diane DiPrima called Patchen's "tender silliness" - is sure to inspire a new generation of readers.

Adventures in 'Pataphysics


Alfred Jarry - 2001
    Included are theoretical texts, aberrant journalism, and highly-wrought Symbolist poems; a practical guide to building a time machine; and the bizarre dramatic buffoonery that presaged Jarry's invention of his most famous character, Pere Ubu. Andre Breton had to devise his notion of "Black Humor" to adequately describe and account for the arcane absurdity of Jarry's work.

There's a Man in the Habit of Hitting me on the Head with an Umbrella


Fernando Sorrentino - 2006
    Not your everyday problem.

Unmarked Graves


Shaun Hutson - 2008
    A steady influx of foreign immigrants has led to racial tension and open hostility and violence. The African newcomers are particularly targeted, regular victims of vandalism and even fire-bombing.

Fat Men in Skirts - Acting Edition


Nicky Silver - 1988
    Book annotation not available for this title.