"Albert Cossery was born in Cairo in 1913, the son of middle-class parents. He studied law in Paris before the outbreak of World War II. During the war, Cossery served in the Egyptian merchant Navy. At the age of 27 he published his first book, Men God Forgot. Albert Cossery emigrated to Paris to continue his studies (which he never did) and to devote himself to writing. He settled permanently in the French capital in 1945, where he lived until his death in 2008. In 60 years he wrote eight novels, in accordance with his philosophy of life in which "laziness" is not a vice but a form of contemplation and meditation..."
"The main concern for authors nowadays is to amass the largest sum of money. They write either to achieve fame or to win literary prizes. An outsider to this game is referred to as a ‘marginal writer’."
- from an interview on http://www.banipal.co.uk/selections/18/179/albert-cossery/
This, of course, is not quite true. It is the publishing industry which over-rewards, and the same industry which under-rewards. Good writers (and there are many now, especially in the British Isles) write because they want to write, even because they need to write.
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"Albert Cossery was born in Cairo in 1913, the son of middle-class parents. He studied law in Paris before the outbreak of World War II. During the war, Cossery served in the Egyptian merchant Navy. At the age of 27 he published his first book, Men God Forgot. Albert Cossery emigrated to Paris to continue his studies (which he never did) and to devote himself to writing. He settled permanently in the French capital in 1945, where he lived until his death in 2008. In 60 years he wrote eight novels, in accordance with his philosophy of life in which "laziness" is not a vice but a form of contemplation and meditation..."
read more here:
http://ndbooks.com/author/albert-cossery
"The main concern for authors nowadays is to amass the largest sum of money. They write either to achieve fame or to win literary prizes. An outsider to this game is referred to as a ‘marginal writer’."
- from an interview on
http://www.banipal.co.uk/selections/18/179/albert-cossery/
This, of course, is not quite true. It is the publishing industry which over-rewards, and the same industry which under-rewards. Good writers (and there are many now, especially in the British Isles) write because they want to write, even because they need to write.
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