Not One Day
Description
Winner of the 2018 Albertine Prize
Finalist for the 2018 Lamba Literary Awards
Finalist for the 2018 French American Foundation Translation Prize
Not One Day begins with a maxim: "Not one day without a woman." What follows is an intimate, erotic, and sometimes bitter recounting of loves and lovers past, breathtakingly written, exploring the interplay between memory, fantasy, and desire.
"For life is too short to submit to reading poorly written books and sleeping with women one does not love."
Anne Garréta, author of the groundbreaking novel Sphinx (Deep Vellum, 2015), is a member of the renowned Oulipo literary group. Not One Day won the Prix Médicis in 2002, recognizing Garréta as an author "whose fame does not yet match their talent."
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About the Author
Reviews
"Garréta's work revolves around dismantling any reflexes we might have, as writers and readers. She roots her intellectualized reflections on desire into the concrete experience of desire, showing how we are simultaneously living and narrating ourselves at the time, and what kind of fictions underpin this constant dynamic." -- A.K. Afferez, Ploughshares
"What is so extraordinary about Garréta's take on the confessional is the way her formidable intellect braids eros and philosophy together: the women are (di)splayed in alphabetically-ordered vignettes written--and translated--with breathtaking precision and bite. The lovers, for the most part, slip intentionally out of focus, but the desire (or in some cases, the lack thereof) that drives each encounter is always drawn with the clearest of lines. It is ultimately this desire, and the act of remembering, itself, that seem to be the true protagonists of this indispensable, bracing parade. From B*, with her "sensual proclivity for analysis," to D*, a "typically desirable woman, you saw her in and through the eyes of others," and H*, "a siren fastened to her chosen rock," the accumulation pushes us toward the conclusion that the discovery of the other is always also, or perhaps only, a discovery of oneself."Heather Cleary, Book MarksWinner of the 2018 Albertine Prize Winner of Prix Médicis 2002 Finalist for the 30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Nominated for the 2018 French American Foundation Translation Prize "Although the book swerves briefly into the erotic, the majority of the text is a heady meditation. Where we expect to find a confession of the body, we are in fact met with a confession of the mind, as Garréta laments the imposition of hetero normative gender roles upon queer desire. This leaves the reader with another question: how can we invent alternate ways to express desire outside of hetero dichotomy?" --Liz von Klemperer, Lambda Literary "This searingly beautiful book stands out in its ability to reveal and disrupt the desires -- and expectations -- readers have of writers." --Ann Mayhew, The Riveter "Not One Day matches the elusive, circuitous narratives with baroque and analytical prose. The novel's elliptical style gives rise to its unsentimental focus on desire, memory, and fantasy as objects that flourish in voids. Desire for something arises when its possession is impossible." --Sebastian Sarti, The Rumpus "An unusual spin on autofiction, Not One Day is a lively, intriguing little read." --M.A. Orthofer, Complete Review "For a work so heartfelt and raw, it comes as a surprise that Not One Day would turn the mirror more on us than on Garreta. By focusing so tightly on her personal experience, Garreta takes us beyond narrative and into the conflicts of the mind and soul, transforming personal love affairs into something ethereal and universal, and we are powerless to resist the temptation to conduct similar experiments of memory on our own loves." --Laura Farmer, Cedar Rapids Gazette "This slim little volume is intimate, packed full of rich sensuality and eroticism captured in stunning translation. Some women are no more than encounters, others long-lasting affairs, but all stir up their own unique revelations, set Garréta on winding trails of thought. Unresolved tensions feel familiar, and reliving forgotten fondnesses along with our narrator inspires quiet reflection on our part as readers as well. This is a pearl of a book." --Caroline Froh, Boswell Book Company (Staff Pick) One of Literary Hub's "30 Books We're Looking Forward to" in 2017 "Winner of the Prix Medicis, this intense collection of Garreta's memories of past loves--written under strict Oulipian constraints--is at times at once tender, bitter, and intimate." -- Literary Hub "Not One Day is a novel both fluid and complex, crowded and lonely, and rooted in an uncomfortable position." -- Eva Domeneghini "A master of thought and language, an astounding authority and elegance." -- Anne Serre, Marie Claire One of Flavorwire's "22 Essential Women Writers to Read in Translation" "An elegant, bitter, intimate, and intricate journey through the byways of queer desire and intellectualism." -- Unabridged Bookstore
"Like a skilled performance artist, Garréta, the first member of Oulipo to be born after the group's founding, simultaneously inhabits bodies and spaces--airports, bars, nightclubs, and so on. Desire is exhilarating when it is a vanishing trace, but repulsive when it's a stand-in for writing or being wanted--or when it's contained in the other's body, a submissive one, or the one 'taking up as little space as possible.'" -- Youmna Chlala, BOMB Magazine "Oulipo member Anne Garreta gives herself a rigid homework assignment and along the way upends the boundaries of autofiction. Her musings, translated by Emma Ramadan, on all the people she's desired or those who have desired her are moving, funny, erotic, and magical. Her gem on American 'highway music' is worth it in itself." --Kyle Alderice, Book Culture, Center for the Art of Translation