Frederic Prokosch

A gripping narrative study of fear, passion, doubt, and betrayal, The Idols of the Cave is a testament to Frederic Prokosch's literary talent in laying bare the complex psyche of his characters. Published in 1946, the novel follows a young expat, Jonathan Ely, as he returns to New York in 1941 to find a society more entangled in its own conflicts than those of WWII. An idealist, Jonathan struggles to adjust to the artificial world of elite socialites and his growing passion for both a young ballerina named Lydia, and Delia, his cousin's young wife. A formidable mimic with a fine ear, Prokosch skillfully recreates the vivid scenes of New York high society, leading his protagonists on a wild, impassioned, almost carnivalesque dance from decadent restaurants to glamorous theaters in a melancholy search for a path forward amongst the din of looming destruction. About the author: Frederic Prokosch (1906-1989) was a novelist, poet, literary critic, and translator. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, to an immigrant family of intellectuals, Prokosch graduated from Haverford College in 1925 and received a Ph. D. in English in 1932 from Yale University. During World War II, he served as cultural attache of the American Legation in Stockholm. Prokosch's first novel, The Asiatics, was published to great acclaim in 1935. It was reissued in 1983 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, which simultaneously published his last book, Voices, a memoir that was praised for its portraits of some of the most outstanding twentieth-century authors and artists. In addition to translations from the Greek and German, Prokosch's other novels include The Seven Who Fled (winner of the Harper Prize, 1937), The Idols of the Cave (1946), The Missolonghi Manuscript (1968), The Wreck of the Cassandra (1966), The Dark Dancer (1964), The Seven Sisters (1962) and A Ballad of Love (1960).

First published in 1968, The Missolonghi Manuscript takes on the ambitious-some may say impossible-literary experiment of portraying the last three months of Lord Byron's life in Missolonghi, Greece, where he died in 1824. Using the time-honored device of the "lost manuscript," Prokosch narrates the fictional discovery of the dying man's notebooks. With a satirical wink towards its un-Byronic elements-such as modern language-Prokosch offers, in his own words, "a study of the romantic artist" that reflects on the historical impact of Romantic art. The novel paved the way for postmodern writers of historical fiction such as Umberto Eco and Anthony Burgess, who called it "the finest fictional re-creation of Lord Byron I have ever read." About the author: Frederic Prokosch (1906-1989) was a novelist, poet, literary critic, and translator. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, to an immigrant family of intellectuals, Prokosch graduated from Haverford College in 1925 and received a Ph. D. in English in 1932 from Yale University. During World War II, he served as cultural attache of the American Legation in Stockholm. Prokosch's first novel, The Asiatics, was published to great acclaim in 1935. It was reissued in 1983 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, which simultaneously published his last book, Voices, a memoir that was praised for its portraits of some of the most outstanding twentieth-century authors and artists. In addition to translations from the Greek and German, Prokosch's other novels include The Seven Who Fled (winner of the Harper Prize, 1937), The Idols of the Cave (1946), The Missolonghi Manuscript (1968), The Wreck of the Cassandra (1966), The Dark Dancer (1964), The Seven Sisters (1962) and A Ballad of Love (1960).

Andre Gide praised "The Asiatics as "an authentic masterpiece"; Thomas Mann called it "brilliant." First published in 1935 and virtually unavailable for years, this extraordinary novel tells the story of a young American--the unnamed narrator--who hitchhikes his way across Asia, from Beirut to China, living off the land and depending on the hospitality of the people he meets along the road. As Pico Iyer writes in the introduction, "[Prokosch] catches the peculiar logic that makes travel a land of alternative reality, a foreign state in itself that is an intoxication."

Frederic Prokosch won international fame with his first novel, The Asiatics, which was translated into seventeen languages. His subsequent works have been highly praised by such writers as Thomas Mann and W. B. Yeats. And Albert Camus wrote as follows: "He has invented what might be called the geographical novel, in which he mingles sensuality with irony, lucidity with mystery. He conveys a fatalistic sense of life half-hidden beneath a rich animal energy. He is a master of moods and undertones, a virtuoso in the feeling of place, and he writes in a style of supple elegance."