Jack-Alain Léger's Zanzarocircus: A Defiant Autobiography
Jack-Alain Léger, a major but overlooked French writer, publishes 'Zanzarocircus', a memoir that blends humor and pain. The book recounts his life as a rock singer, novelist, and manic-depressive, using the clownish persona 'Zanzaro' or 'Bibi'. It covers his encounters with Liz Taylor, Françoise Sagan, and Gérard Malanga, as well as his battles with the literary establishment, psychiatric institutions, and his own illness. Léger, who also wrote under pseudonyms like Paul Smail (author of 'Vivre me tue'), has published nearly forty novels. 'Zanzarocircus' is published by L'Éditeur.
Key facts
- Jack-Alain Léger publishes 'Zanzarocircus' in 2012.
- Léger has written nearly forty novels under names like Paul Smail, Dashiell Hedayatt, and Éve Saint-Roch.
- The book uses a clownish narrator named Zanzaro or Bibi.
- Léger suffered from manic depression and was hospitalized.
- He began his career as a rock singer, winning the Prix Charles Cros.
- The memoir includes encounters with Liz Taylor, Françoise Sagan, and Gérard Malanga.
- Léger's novel 'Vivre me tue' was adapted into a Hollywood film.
- The book is published by L'Éditeur.
Entities
Artists
- Jack-Alain Léger
- Paul Smail
- Dashiell Hedayatt
- Éve Saint-Roch
- Liz Taylor
- Françoise Sagan
- Gérard Malanga
- Martha Argerich
- Philippe Muray
- Christian Bourgois
- Françoise Verny
- Louis Althusser
- Jacques Derrida
- Jacques Lacan
- Roland Barthes
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Barry White
- Mozart
- Tiepolo
- Fragonard
- Richard Strauss
- Alban Berg
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal
- Goya
- Velázquez
- Picasso
- Rimbaud
- Baudelaire
- Alfred Jarry
- Nietzsche
- James Joyce
- Marcel Proust
- Vladimir Nabokov
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Institutions
- L'Éditeur
- Christian Bourgois (publisher)
- Denoël
- CBS
- artpress
- Grasset
- Factory
Locations
- France
- Paris
- Côte d'Azur
- New York
- Rome
- India
Sources
- artpress —