A Menagerie in Revolt: Selected Writings

by Benjamin Péret, Franklin Rosemont (Introduction), Don Lacoss (Afterword)

This collection is based on the pioneering anthology of Péret's writings that first appeared in August 1970 in the SDS journal Radical America, introduced by Franklin Rosemont. This new, expanded and illustrated edition includes a selection of Péret's incomparable poetry and stories, a wide range of critical essays of the practice of poetry, the struggle against capitalism, slave revolts in Brazil, Pre-Columbian art, and appreciations of the great surrealist artists Wifredo Lam, Jundirch Styrsky, and Toyen. An afterword by Don LaCoss discusses the ecological dimension of Péret's work. Péret's writings testify with burning clarity to his relentless devotion to the cause of breaking the social, cultural, and psychological fetters which reduce the imagination to misery and degradation. An essential collection by an essential member of the first Surrealist group.

Genres: Poetry

148 pages

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Benjamin Péret (4 July 1899 – 18 September 1959) was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism.
Benjamin Péret was born in Rezé, France on 4 July 1899. He, as a child, acquired little education due to his dislike of school and he instead attended the Local Art School from 1912. He too, however, resigned soon after in 1913 due to his sheer lack of study and willingness to do so. Afterwards he spent a short period of time in a School of Industrial Design before enlisting in the French army's Cuirassiers during the First World War to avoid being jailed for defacing a local statue with paint. He saw action in the Balkans before being deployed to Salonica, Greece.

Reviews

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love his style, but this is a mixed bag of random excerpts (for the most part). Cannot anymore abide by anti-scientific, anti-rationalist and anti-Enlightenment polemics (despite my allegiance to surrealism) and I don't much like when collections don't give any context to the included works (including here some rather meager pieces like introductions to other people's work). Love Péret but not a big fan of this particular collection.