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The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas
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The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas Paperback - 2009

by Schmitt, Eric-Emmanuel ; Anderson, Alison

Here are eight contemporary fables, populated by a cast of characters in search of happiness. Behind each story lies a simple truth: happiness is often right in front of one's eyes, though it is often overlooked.


Summary

"A cast of extravagant and affecting characters lovingly portrayed by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt animates these eight contemporary fables about people in search of happiness; from the touching and surprising love story between Balthazar, a wealthy author, and Odette, a shop clerk, to the tale of a barefooted princess; from the moving title story about a group of female prisoners in a Soviet gulag to the entertaining portrait of a perennially disgruntled perfectionist. Behind each story lies a simple, if elusive, truth: though we may be frequently blind to it, happiness is often right in front of our eyes." - from the bookflap of the 2009 paperback edition.

Details

  • Title The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas
  • Author Schmitt, Eric-Emmanuel ; Anderson, Alison
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First edition
  • Pages 184
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Europa Editions, New York
  • Date 2009-07-07
  • Features Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781933372747
  • Themes
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine

Media reviews

"Melancholy but edifying orator, light yet profound raconteur (like Diderot), Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt squeezes goodness from sorrow, places language, the word, on an altar, and derives from reality books that sell millions of copies."

-Il Giornale (Italy)

"The Most Beautiful Book in the World is as affecting as it is intelligent. [...] Eight stories, parables on the idea of a future, filled with redeeming optimism. Truth and beauty are here brought together. The Most Beautiful Book in the World [...] has all the visual beauty and power of major literary works."

-Jean-Rémi Barland, Lire Magazine (France)

"A born story-teller with a talent for telling ostensibly simple tales that nevertheless suggest a philosophy for life, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt [in The Most Beautiful Book in the World] takes the lid off the lives of eight women in eight contrasting portraits, each time with thought-provoking piquancy and suspense leading to an arresting and delightful end."

-La Libre Belgique (Belgium)

Citations

  • Kirkus Reviews, 06/15/2009, Page 0
  • Publishers Weekly, 06/22/2009, Page 32

About the author

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is one of Europe's most popular and acclaimed authors and playwrights. His many novels and story collections include The Most Beautiful Book in the World (Europa, 2009), Oscar and the Lady in Pink, and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran. A keen music lover, Schmitt has also translated into French The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni from the original Italian. In 2001, he was awarded the French Academy's Grand Prix du Thtre. Schmitt divides his time between Paris and Brussels.

Alison Anderson's translation of Europa Editions include novels by Slim Nassib, Amlie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of Muriel Barbery's bestselling novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

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The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas
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by Schmitt, Eric-Emmanuel

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