Book Description
Arthur Rimbaud's invented Splendide-Hôtel, "built in the chaos of ice and of the polar night," provides the occasion for Gilbert Sorrentino's imaginative meditation on letters and language. Each chapter serves as an opportunity for the author to expand on thoughts and images suggested by a letter of the alphabet, as well as to reflect upon the workings of the imagination, particularly in the art of William Carlos Williams and Arthur Rimbaud. Reminiscent of the philosophical treatise/poem On Being Blue by William H. Gass, Splendide-Hôtel is a Grand Hotel of the mind, splendidly conceived.

About the Author
In addition to his books of poetry and criticism, Sorrentino is the author of fourteen novels, including Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, The Sky Changes, and Mulligan Stew. He has received numerous grants and awards throughout his career, including the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, two Guggenheim Fellowships, two NEA Fellowships and a Lannan Literary Award.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Arthur Rimbaud's invented Splendide-Hotel, "built in the chaos of ice and of the polar night," provides the occasion for Gilbert Sorrentino's imaginative meditation on letters and language. Each chapter serves as an opportunity for the author to expand on thoughts and images suggested by a letter of the alphabet, as well as to reflect upon the workings of the imagination, particularly in the art of William Carlos Williams and Arthur Rimbaud. Reminiscent of the philosophical treatise/poem On Being Blue by William H. Gass, Splendide-Hotel is a Grand Hotel of the mind, splendidly conceived.


About the Author

In Addition to his books of poetry and criticism, Sorrentino is the author of fourteen novels, including Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, The Sky Changes, and Mulligan Stew. He has received numerous grants and awards throughout his career, including the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature, two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Lannan Literary Award.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post

Sorrentino can write with a wit that S.J. Perelman might envy . . . with sustained irony, seemingly effortless invention, and unfaltering verbal control. The result is prose of a rare deliciousness, but also philodophy and critique of contemporary writing.

Alice S. Morris