Friday, February 7, 2014

"Don't Tell Sybil" by George Melly - a Memoir

Atlas Press, Distributed by D.A.P.  ISBN: 978-1-900565-65-3

Fascinating memoir by the always interesting George Melly on his life with E.L.T. Mesens, a surrealist from Belgium, who ended up as a gallery owner as well as a poet and artist in 1950s London.  In the50's, Melly became Mesens' assistant in his gallery, as well as being a jazz singer of some note.  One of the eminent London-center eccentrics, Melly dishes out the information regarding Surrealism, as it was dying out as a social scene.  

A very affectionate, yet pointed, portrait of Mesens and his world.  The reader gets the flavor of those times, and this is especially cool, because there is not that much literature on surrealism during the 50's/60's and especially from the London scene at the time.  

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