The Descent - Fritz Peters

. .

Résumé :
Largely focused on the proverbial war of the sexes, with enough suspense and brilliant analysis to satisfy anyone familiar with Peters' earlier outstanding novels. - NY Times Book Review Set in the 1950s, The Descent asks the question, Where are we all going, so fast? when the fates of seven travelers converge at a hairpin turn on a New Mexico highway. In his most accessible and mainstream novel, Peters turns his observational prowess to the most unassuming of characters. He does a remarkable job of capturing the motivations of both male and female characters, the haphazard decisions made by their unexamined selves, how they struggle to understand each other and coexist, and what territory can only be ceded in the gaps of understanding they encounter. What emerges is a striking representation of post-World War II United States, but the insights contained within are timeless. The Descent shows how catastrophe is a fact of life...

Biographie:
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Arthur Anderson, Fritz Peters was the author of both novels and memoirs, which touched on themes of spirituality, mental illness, homosexuality, self and society, always through the lens of an unrelenting individuality and nonconformism. Peters' most successful novel was Finist?re, published in 1951, which sold over 350,000 copies and was an influential and unapologetic work of early gay literature. Due to instability in his family life, Peters spent his childhood between Europe and the United States, often nurtured by those adults who were able and willing to assist. Central to his upbringing was his aunt Margaret Anderson and her partner Jane Heap, creators of The Little Review literary magazine, along with other members of their circle, such as Gertrude Stein. Most notably, the esoteric teacher George Gurdjieff interacted closely with Fritz from an early age and was hugely influential in Peters' life and literature. Boyhood with Gurdjieff, Peters' most popular memoir, paints these figures and their projects in a thoughtful and intimate light....

Sommaire:
that life is given to us on a silver platter, and what we do with it is up to us....