Mark Polizzotti Books

Aptly described by playwright Eugene Ionesco as one of the four or five great reformers of modern thought, Andre Breton (1896-1966) was the founder and prime mover of Surrealism, the most influential artistic and literary movement of the 20th century. Poet and theorist, artistic impresario and political agitator, Breton was a man of paradoxical character: inspiring one moment, crushingly tyrannical the next; embracing friends like Brunuel, Dali, Duchamp, Miro, Man Ray, Aragon and Eluard, only to exile them as enemies later. From its emergence from Dada after World War I through its culmination in the 1960s, here is the Surrealist world in detail. --Black Widow Press.

Originally published in 1928 and augmented throughout the author's life, Surrealism and Paintingis the single most important statement ever written on Surrealist art. While many pages have been devoted to visual Surrealism, this is the only book on the subject by the movement's founder and prime theorist. It contains André Breton's seminal treatise on the origins and foundations of artistic Surrealism, with his trenchant assessments of its precursors and practitioners, and his call for the plastic arts to "refer to a purely internal model," to excavate the "dark continent" of consciousness. Also included are essays--many of them classics in their own right--on Picasso, Duchamp, Kahlo, Dali, Ernst, Masson, Gorky, Picabia, Miro, Magritte, Kandinsky, Hantai and others, as well as pieces on Gallic art, outsider art and the folk arts of Haiti and Oceania. But above and beyond the subject matter, what makes this book so enduringly compelling is Breton's signature mixture of rigorous erudition and visceral passion, his sense of art as adventure, and his discoveries of many of Modernism's most prominent figures early in their careers. Long unavailable in English, Surrealism and Paintingis not only a supremely exciting work of art criticism, but also one of the three or four indispensable references for any serious discussion of modern art.

Los Olvidados (1950) established Luis Bunuel's reputation as a world-class director. The film exhibits some of Bunuel's recognisable themes of love's yearnings, social injustice, and surrealism, but with a layer of compassion that sets it apart from many of his other films.

Traces the life and career of the influential art dealer, from his Jewish-Italian heritage and midlife entry into the art world to his name-making exhibition of an unknown Jasper Johns and emergence as a cultivator of period masters. By the author of Sartre.

An engaging and unabashedly opinionated examination of what translation is and isn't.

"In this book, Mark Polizzotti examines just what makes the songs onHighway 61 Revisited so affecting, how they work together as a suite,and how lyrics, melody, and arrangements combine to create an unusually potent mix. He blends musical and literary analysis of the songs themselves, biography (where appropriate) and recording information (where helpful). And he focuses on Dylan's mythic presence in the mid-60s, when he emerged from his proletarian incarnation to become the American Rimbaud. The comparison has been made by others, including Dylan, and it illuminates much about his mid-sixties career, for in many respects Highway 61 is rock 'n' roll's answer to "A Season in Hell."

He awakes in a hotel that might be a hospital or might be something else much more mysterious. His nurses bear an uncanny resemblance to Dean Martin and Peggy Lee and explain to him that there are certain rules to be obeyed on his return to Paris- the most important being that he must lose his old identity entirely. Defying the regulations, Max struggles to retrieve pieces of his former life, and although followed by watchers from 'the hotel' he feels livelier than he did when he was alive. PIANO can be read as a metaphor of life and death, of heaven and hell. The question is- Which is which?

Exploring the obsession with fame, the story follows renowned singer Gloire Stella, who vanishes from the public eye, prompting a documentary producer to search for her. As Gloire evades capture, the narrative unfolds across diverse locations, from Brittany's cliffs to Bombay's alleys, blending dark comedy with a thrilling adventure. This tale offers a satirical yet chilling commentary on television stardom and the myths surrounding beauty and celebrity.

A short, brutal tale by the author of The Order of The Day: the story of a moment in Europe's history when the poor rose up and banded together behind a fiery preacher, to challenge the entrenched powers of the ruling elite.

An elegant consideration of the Surrealist movement as a global phenomenon and why the movement continues to resonate