Hotel_Crystal
2010 Nominated

Hotel Crystal

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

At some Parisian lost-and-found, a mysterious manuscript scribbled onto stray bits of hotel stationary and postcards and stuffed into an abandoned briefcase comes into the hands of an “editor,” who claims to faithfully transcribe and assemble the random texts. On the face of it, these consist of fastidious descriptions of a series of hotel rooms in cities around the globe, but their world-weary writer, a certain “Olivier Rolin,” is also involved in a number of highly improbable international networks, populated by unsavory thugs and Mata Haris in distress.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Olivier
Rolin

Olivier Rolin (born May 17, 1947, in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a renowned French novelist, essayist, and journalist associated with the Nouvelle Fiction movement. A former Maoist militant in his youth, his literature often explores themes of memory, exile, travel, and historical melancholy, winning accolades like the 1994 Prix Femina for Port-Sudan.

Olivier Rolin (born May 17, 1947, in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a renowned French novelist, essayist, and journalist associated with the Nouvelle Fiction movement. A former Maoist militant in his youth, his literature often explores themes of memory, exile, travel, and historical melancholy, winning accolades like the 1994 Prix Femina for Port-Sudan.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Jane
Kuntz

Jane Kuntz has translated nine works of fiction for Dalkey Archive. She holds a doctorate in Francophone Literature, and spent eighteen years in Tunisia. She now lives and works in Urbana, Illinois.

Jane Kuntz has translated nine works of fiction for Dalkey Archive. She holds a doctorate in Francophone Literature, and spent eighteen years in Tunisia. She now lives and works in Urbana, Illinois.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

A very ironic book, very entertaining. An atmosphere of total delirium and silly stories. It offers the opportunity to cast a glance at the state of the world.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
France
Original Language
French
Author
Publisher
Dalkey Archive Press
Translator
Jane Kuntz

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