In case you suspected that you were the only one who's ever seen the inside of a volcano, and lived. You're not, and now you've got some really important work to do. Fly to it.
— Matt
This retelling of an obscure Greek myth spares no soul (human or otherwise) in its execution of a gut wrenching love story. Carson’s adjectives have been burned into my subconscious, so much so that they haunt me in my dreams. Her unique ability to wrap form and syntax around her finger only to strangle you with it is what makes this book standout among other adaptations of Greek mythology.
— Ryan
Each entry into this devastating retelling of a Greek myth will break your heart, only to rearrange it in the form of a mosaic. Read out loud if you can.
— Ryan
If you only ever read one thing by Anne Carson, it should be this. All at once haunting, tender, raw, sensual; there really aren't enough words for this beautiful little coming of age story. Find a comfortable seat and read it all in one go and I promise you'll feel forever changed afterward.
— Julianne D.
Description
The award-winning poet reinvents a genre in a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional re-creation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present.
Geryon, a young boy who is also a winged red monster, reveals the volcanic terrain of his fragile, tormented soul in an autobiography he begins at the age of five. As he grows older, Geryon escapes his abusive brother and affectionate but ineffectual mother, finding solace behind the lens of his camera and in the arms of a young man named Herakles, a cavalier drifter who leaves him at the peak of infatuation. When Herakles reappears years later, Geryon confronts again the pain of his desire and embarks on a journey that will unleash his creative imagination to its fullest extent. By turns whimsical and haunting, erudite and accessible, richly layered and deceptively simple, Autobiography of Red is a profoundly moving portrait of an artist coming to terms with the fantastic accident of who he is.
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
"Anne Carson is, for me, the most exciting poet writing in English today." --Michael Ondaatje
"This book is amazing--I haven't discovered any writing in years so marvelously disturbing." --Alice Munro
"A profound love story . . . sensuous and funny, poignant, musical and tender." --The New York Times Book Review
"A deeply odd and immensely engaging book. . . . [Carson] exposes with passionate force the mythic underlying the explosive everyday." --The Village Voice
About the Author
ANNE CARSON was born in Canada and has been a professor of Classics for over thirty years. Her awards and honors include the Lannan Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Griffin Trust Award for Excellence in Poetry, and fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations.
Praise For…
"This book is amazing--I haven't discovered any writing in years so marvelously disturbing." --Alice Munro
"A profound love story...sensuous and funny, poignant, musical and tender." --The New York Times Book Review
"A deeply odd and immensely engaging book.... [Carson] exposes with passionate force the mythic underlying the explosive everyday." --The Village Voice
