ABOUT THE BOOK
Two men are buried alongside each other in the cemetery of Montparnasse. One strict, upper middle class, a firm adherer to the values and principles of the grande bourgeoisie, the other an unconventional man whose exuberant lifestyle and creative imagination echoed in his roaring laughter. Having now become companions in the afterlife, under the ironic and tender smile of the sculptured angel guarding their tombs—The French Father describes the dialogue these two men might have had.
Elkann finds harmony in the clashing proximity of his father, a man of stern measures and the unruly artist. What could have been a story of grief becomes one of peaceful vitality united through a shared inheritance and faith.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALAIN ELKANN was born in New York in 1950. He is a regular contributor to various Italian newspapers and magazines such as La Stampa, Nuovi Argomenti and Panta. A prize winning novelist, essayist and journalist, he has published over twenty books. The French Father is the second translation of a work by Alain Elkann, and follows the publication of Envy, also by Pushkin Press.
Translated from the Italian by Alastair McEwen
Cover illustration: Gustave Caillebotte
ISBN 978 1906548 34 6
119 pages
