The following mash-note to Félix Fénéon's Novels in Three Lines is from our fabulous New England indie bookstore sales rep, Michael Kindness (and is that your real name Mr. Kindness?), who gave us permission to reproduce it.
You might recognize M. Fénéon from Paul Signac's famous portrait of him. At one time it hung in the entryway of The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Novels in Three Lines goes on sale on August 21st. New Englanders, if you can't find it in your local bookstore, don't blame Michael Kindness!
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I just received my finished copy of NOVELS IN THREE LINES by Félix Fénéon, and I can’t seem to put it down.
Fénéon was an interesting guy: anarchist, art critic, champion of Seurat and French translator of Edgar Allan Poe and Jane Austen. In the early part of the 20th Century, Fénéon’s job was to write filler stories for a Paris newspaper. These true short-short stories dealt with everyday life: murder, adultery, revenge, taxes and traffic accidents. It’s no wonder this book has an introduction from Luc Sante (who also translated the book from the French).
This is just the kind of weird little book that's perfect for indie bookstores.
In closing, here are a few of the favorite pieces I’ve come upon thus far:
Since the church in Mielin, Haure-Saone, has been barricaded, the faithful have been climbing in through the windows for services.
The sinister prowler seen by the mechanic Gicquel near Herblay train station has been identified: Jules Menard, snail collector.
An unidentified maker of paste jewels from the third arrondissement was fishing in a boat with his wife at Mezy. She fell. He dived. Both gone.
Women suckling their infants argued the workers’ cause to the director of the streetcar lines in Toulon. He was unmoved.
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