Palafox

"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."-Revolution 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.

Eric Chevillard is one of the most inventive authors writing in French today. His novels include On the Ceiling, The Crab Nebula, and Demolishing Nisard, all translated by Jordan Stump, and Palafox (Archipelago), translated by Wyatt Mason.

Wyatt Mason has translated several books by Pierre Michon, including Masters and Servants (Mercury House, 1997) and The Origin of the World (Mercury House, 2002). His edition of Rimbaud’s complete works in two volumes, Rimbaud Complete and I Promise to be Good, is published by Modern Library. In 2003, he was named a Fellow of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library.