Cultural Writing. Essays. Translated from the French by Jennifer Moxley. SLEEP'S POWERS is a meditation on the role of sleep in human life. In the tradition of Montaigne, this book of short essays draws from literary sources (Proust, Sartre, Bataille, Beckett, Kafka), science (Michel Jouvet), as well as personal history and memory. It would appeal to readers interested in the tradition of the poet-critic, the literary essay, feminist perspectives on experience, modernist and post-structuralist thought, as well as to those committed to philosophical questions regarding the role of dreams and imagination in human life.

Author City: Rome ITA

Born in Besancon, France in 1936, Jacqueline Risset has published many books of poetry as well as literary essays. She was one of the editors of Tel Quel, and is well-known for her translations of Dante's Commedia (1985-90, fifth edition 2006). Her most recent book is Traduction et memoire poetique, Dante, Sceve, Rimbaud, Proust which won the Award of the Academie Francaise in 2007. She teaches French literature and is President of Centro di Studi Italo-francesi at the Universita degli Studi di Roma III. SLEEP'S POWERS was originally published in French under the title Puissances du Sommeil by Editions du Seuil in September 1997.