Perseus Academic: Palafox by Eric Chevillard

“Mix together one pinch of surrealism, one pinch of ‘situationalism,’ stir in a large measure of poetry, quite a bit of talent and you will get a glittering novel of intelligence and humor.”—Révolution

Eric Chevillard’s third novel of 11, Palafox explores the ecosystem of an unclassifiable yet enchanting protean creature. A team of “experts” armed with degrees of higher learning is determined to label, train, baptize and realize the elusive creature, while Palafox—driven by his own interior logic and flanked by another dimension—effortlessly and wordlessly defies them all. Chevillard’s visionary play (of word and thought) has been compared to the work of Beckett, Michaux and Pinget, yet the universe he spins is utterly his own.

Wyatt Mason's first Michon translation, Masters and Servants, was a finalist for the French-American Foundation prize. He translated the complete works of Arthur Rimbaud published by The Modern Library, Rimbaud Complete, and is currently at work on their new edition of Dante's La Vita Nuova. His essays and reviews have appeared in Harper's, The Nation, and the Los Angeles Times.