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Max Blecher
Even at a young age it was clear that Max Blecher (1909-38) was quite talented. By age 16 he had been published by a prominent Bucharest magazine and by 19 he began medical school in Paris. During this year of medical school Blecher was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the spine, or Pott’s disease, and was forced to abandon his studies. He sought treatment at various sanatoria in France, Switzerland, and Romania but the disease was incurable. The treatment at the time was prolonged bed rest and a plaster body cast, which encased Blecher for the remainder of his life. Blecher spent this decade between his diagnosis and death by writing two novels, one book of poetry, and numerous articles and translations. He also continually corresponded with some of the great writers and philosophers of the time, including Geo Bogza, André Breton, André Gide, and Martin Heidegger. His writing was deeply influenced by surrealism and rich with metaphors and dream-like moments. Often compared to Kafka, Blecher wrote about his illness without an element of self-pity. He died at the age of 28. Adventures in Immediate Irreality will be published by New Directions on 17 February 2015.
 

Articles Available Online


Adventures in Immediate...

fiction

January 2015

Max Blecher

TR. Michael Henry Heim

fiction

January 2015

I can picture myself as a small child wearing a nightshirt that comes down to my heels. I am weeping desperately, sitting on a...

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fiction

April 2014

Chiral

Paul Currion

fiction

April 2014

I cough while the technician tinkers with the projector, although the two are not related, and I wonder why...

fiction

October 2015

The Bird Thing

Julianne Pachico

fiction

October 2015

You are worried about the bird thing but that’s the last thing you want to think about right now,...

fiction

December 2016

The Giving Up Game

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

fiction

December 2016

The peculiar thing was that Astrid appeared exactly as she did on screen. She was neither taller nor shorter....

 

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