Last Days     by Raymond Queneau, Translated by Barbara Wright Original title: Les Derniers jours Published by Dalkey Archive Press Pub. Date: September 1, 1996 Format: Paperback, 250 pages ISBN: 1564781402 List Price: $11.95 buy now directly from the publisher Free Shipping Worldwide Published by Dalkey Archive Press Pub. Date: October 1, 1990 Format: Cloth, 250 pages ISBN: 0916583627 List Price: $19.95 buy now directly from the publisher Free Shipping Worldwide

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The Last Days is Raymond Queneau's autobiographical novel of Parisian s tudent life in the 1920s: Vincent Tuquedenne tries to reconcile his love for reading with the sterility of studying as he hopes to study his way out of the petite bourgeoisie to which he belongs. Vincent and his generation are contrasted with an older gen e ration of retired teachers and petty crooks, and both generations come under the bemused gaze of the waiter Alfred, whose infallible method of predicting the future mocks prevailing scientific models. Similarly, Queneau's literary universe operates under its own laws, joining rigorous artistry with a warm evocation of the last days of a bygone world.

"The most important thing to say about The Last Days is that it works. Erudition is seldom welcome at the gates of satire, but the late Raymond Queneau's aut obiographical novel of Parisian student life in the 1920s is profound, complex and instantly likable. It is also very, very funny."—Octavio Roca, Washington Times

"The flavor of this French novelist's wit is wise and dolorous, like that of someone slight ly regretful in the face of helpless recognitions. . . . This novel, luminously rendered into English by Queneau's frequent translator Barbara Wright, demonstrates that the artifices of fiction are among the most satisfying and revealing of all of life's patterns."—New Yorker

"Queneau writes about this Gallic wasteland with his usual deadpan alley panache, a dextrous mix of neologisms ('subyelped'), malapropisms, and outrageous images that make you laugh and cringe."—Bill Marx, Boston Review

"A witty novel that is a witness both to Queneau's marvelous sense of humor and his capacity for self-examination."—Choice

"Dazzling in its wordplay."—Kirkus Reviews

"The mystery that occurs to me when reading this novel is why it has not been translated into English until now. Its one of the better all-around efforts by one of the major prose fiction writers of our century."—Harvey Pekar, San Diego Tribune

"It is an artfully crafted literary mosaic of oppositions and similarities (of characters, descriptions, a ttitudes, and perceptions) that emphasize the literary quality of this work. The finality evoked in the title is rich in potential for interpretation, as is the work itself. The use of puns and neologisms, as well as other stylistic and rhetorical devices characteristic of Queneau's work, have come to be recognized as uniquely his."—Library Journal

"Beguiling. . . . Queneau's literary infractions . . . are not for the sake of novelty but for the sake of the novel."—Publishers Weekly