Beefsteak
Publisher
:
Phébus
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782752904768
Number of pages
:
124
Description
***By the acclaimed writer-director of Séraphine***
In an offbeat and sensual fable set in Brittany at the beginning of the twentieth century, a young butcher discovers his particular gift for flesh.
The Plomeurs have been butchers for generations, so nobody was surprised that young André could debone a leg of lamb and bacon-wrap beef tenderloins before he reached age ten. Some people are born with a tendency for music, some with a talent for writing, but André Plomeur had the gift of making flesh sing.
As an adult he found that the gift worked in rooms other than the kitchen. It is the beginning of the First World War; all the husbands are at the front, but a butcher is essential at home. Soon the wives of Quimper are lining up outside the Plomeurs’ butcher shop, hoping they will receive one of André’s special treatments.
One morning, André finds a newborn baby in a basket outside his door. Then a second, and a third—soon he is the unwed father of seven children. Then the war ends and the husbands return home. A particularly angry one threatens to kill the butcher and all his little lambs. André decides to flee to America with his offspring in a sailboat. During the voyage, however, the rowdy little family is cast upon a desert isle.
The captivating story features three generations of characters, the broad range of human passions and predilections, and a full serving of sensuality and surreal absurdity.
Author
Martin Provost :
Martin Provost is a writer and filmmaker. His movie Séraphine, won seven Césars (the French equivalent of the Oscars) in 2009, including Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress, and was greeted with rave reviews in the United States. He is currently working on a film adaptation of Keith Ridgway’s novel The Long Falling. Beefsteak is his third novel.
|