N° 1741
The author wrote this work when he was suffering from tuberculosis. Addressed to the reader, it is a hymn to the pleasures of life that Gide came so close to losing: travel, touch, hearing, smell, sight and, above all, taste. During the author's travels, he meets Menalcas, a caricature of Oscar Wilde, who relates his fantastic life story. But for all his brilliance, Menalcas is only Gide's yesterday self, a discarded wraith who leaves Gide free to stop exalting the ego and embrace bodily and spiritual joy.
Lawson Park Electronic Library is a Guestroom project for Grizedale Arts, designed and built by Dorian Moore