From Publishers Weekly
Despite the wealth of biographical detail in this collection of French wartime hero aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's (1900â€"1944) letters, drawings, photographs and private notebooks, both Saint-Exupéry and the genesis of his best-known book, The Little Prince, remain essentially mysterious. Even though The Little Prince, that children's book that so many children found somewhat perplexing in its adult themes of exile and loss, is rarely directly addressed, with only a few early sketches of the prince and friends provided among the 9.75" x 11.25" collection's 200 color illustrations, it haunts the narrative of Saint-Exupéry's life. Adoringly written by a great-niece of Saint-Exupéry, the collection provides a wealth of minute details of Saint-Exupéry's childhood and close friendships, yet provides virtually no information on some essentials, such as his mysterious father, who died unexpectedly of a heart attack when Saint-Exupéry was four. These sorts of factual elisions occur regularly throughout the book, despite its oddly repetitive structure, in which central events in Saint-Exupéry's life are described over and over again, creating an almost mythic feel. American readers familiar only with The Little Prince may find much of interest about Saint-Exupéry, who was also the author of several books based on his daring flights, including Night Flight and Flight to Arras, and who stayed in the United States from 1940 to 1943, trying to persuade the United States to enter the war. In fact, his "Letter to an American" could speak directly to today's rift between the United States and France. He disappeared during one last wartime flight on July 31, 1944. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The French pilot, writer, and inventor Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900-44) is best known for his illustrated children's book, The Little Prince. But this alluring and brilliantly poetic and philosophical classic for readers of all ages was Saint Exupery's last book, and just one manifestation of a lifelong passion for writing and drawing. Saint Exupery (who disappeared during a reconnaissance mission) was a tireless and entertaining correspondent, covering hotel stationery from all over the world with sketches and reports on his nomadic and "precarious" existence. With those epistolary treasures in hand, as well as a cache of photographs, drawings, and manuscripts, the courageous pilot's great-niece, Nathalie Des Vallieres, an art historian, has assembled a gorgeous monograph that tells the entire story of Saint Exupery's amazing life in both image and text, vividly chronicling his adventures and his urgent need to share his thoughts and experiences. Tragically, war defined Saint Exupery's world, yet he found inspiration and magic in the vast silence of the North African desert and the boundlessness of the sky. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
One of the greatest masters of the illustrated book, Antoine de Saint Exupéry has been well known for his artistic and literary talents ever since the publication of The Little Prince in 1943. It is less well known that from childhood he decorated his letters, notebooks, journals, and diaries (and later his manuscripts) with small drawings, caricatures, cartoons, and visual puzzles, very few of which have ever been published.

Now this remarkable anthology invites the reader to rediscover the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most important writers through his most beautiful and artful drawings and manuscripts. Excerpts from Saint Exupéry's letters, diaries, and journals-as well as from his published writings-illuminate his experience flying for the postal service, his World War II military experience, and his exile in America. Facsimiles of his personal writings and of his corrections to original manuscripts are reproduced along with examples of the drawings, cartoons, and sketches with which he decorated almost every scrap of his personal writings. All of his writings and designs display his keen fascination with the sky and his passion for the desert and for solitude.


About the Author
Nathalie des Valliéres is a greatniece of Saint Exupéry. She is an art historian currently serving as secretary of the Society for the Work and Memory of Antoine de Saint Exupéry. She has authored Saint Exupéry, the Archangel and the Writer (Gallimard, 1998), and Saint Exupéry's Notebooks (Gallimard, 1999).

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Although Antoine de Saint Exupery has been well known for his artistic and literary talents ever since the publication of The Little Prince in 1943, it is less well known that ever since childhood he decorated his letters, notebooks, journals, diaries (and later his manuscripts) with small drawings, caricatures, cartoons and visual puzzles." "This anthology features the most beautiful and artful of these uncollected occasional writings of Saint Exupery from his juvenilia until his death. Covering his entire life, this anthology gives unprecedented glimpses into Saint Exupery's childhood, friendships and love affairs, travels and adventures, his fascination with the sky and experiences as a pilot for the postal service and as a fighter pilot, and his passion for the desert and for solitude." With over 80 color facsimiles, this anthology invites the reader to rediscover the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most important writers through his drawings and manuscripts.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly