Les Cerfs-volants
Paris, Gallimard, April 2, 1980.
1 vol. (145 x 220 mm) of 369 p. and [3] f. In wrappers, chemise and slipcase.
First edition.
One of 25 copies on vélin d'Arches (no. 34).
One of 25 copies on vélin d'Arches (no. 34).
This final novel bears a spare dedication: “To the memory.” Though set against the backdrop of Nazism and the Occupation, the book is entirely governed by the love Gary had despaired of ever finding. As in Clair de femme (said to have been inspired by a discreet affair with Romy Schneider), Les Cerfs-volants dwells on this “illumination” of love. On the book’s publication, Gary confided that he did not “always manage to apply the precepts of [his] books to [his] life, but this whole book is the story of people who do not know how to despair.” A few months later, on 2 December 1980, he took his own life, a little over a year after the death of Jean Seberg.
A fine copy of a rare deluxe issue.
It is preceded only by 15 copies on Hollande paper.
#29957
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