{"product_id":"secrets-of-the-flesh-a-life-of-colette-9780345371034","title":"Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette","description":"\u003cb\u003eA dazzling biography of the French literary superstar Colette, who is also the subject of a major motion picture.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A fine and intelligent biography of Colette, with her long tumultuous life and the great body of her work scrupulously considered and presented with style.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e(Editors' Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - WINNER OF THE \u003ci\u003eLOS ANGELES TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBOOK AWARD - NOMINATED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHaving spent her childhood in the shadow of an overpowering mother, Colette escaped at age twenty into a turbulent marriage with the sexy, unscrupulous Willy--a literary charlatan who took credit for her bestselling Claudine novels. Weary of Willy's sexual domination, Colette pursued an extremely public lesbian love affair with a niece of Napoleon's. At forty, she gave birth to a daughter who bored her, at forty-seven she seduced her teenage stepson, and in her seventies she contributed to the pro-Nazi press during the Occupation, even though her beloved third husband, a Jew, had been arrested by the Gestapo. And all the while, this incomparable woman poured forth a torrent of masterpieces, including \u003ci\u003eGigi, Sido, Cheri\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBreak of Day. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJudith Thurman, author of the National Book Award-winning biography of Isak Dinesen, portrays Colette as a thoroughly modern woman: frank in her desires, fierce in her passions, forever reinventing herself. Rich with delicious gossip and intimate revelations, shimmering with grace and intelligence, \u003ci\u003eSecrets of the Flesh\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the great biographies of our time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eChosen as one of the Best Books of the Year by \u003ci\u003eThe Village Voice \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" Colette] has been the subject of . . . a half-dozen significant biographies over the past thirty years. Yet this one by Judith Thurman will be hard to top. . . . Its prose is smoothly urbane, at times aphoristic, always captivating.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"It will stand as literature in its own right.\"\u003cb\u003e--Richard Bernstein, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" An] essential biography by a stylish writer of great sympathetic understanding and intellectual authority.\"\u003cb\u003e--Philip Roth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJudith Thurman\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eIsak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller, Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCleopatra's Nose: 39 Varieties of Desire\u003c\/i\u003e. A staff writer at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, she lives in New York City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50460137455890,"sku":"9780345371034","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_417a6cf1-991b-4427-ba0a-39f6ecbb618d.jpg?v=1730030164","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/secrets-of-the-flesh-a-life-of-colette-9780345371034","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}