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| New Directions ISBN: 978-0-08112-1874-0 |
I'm not a man that has a lot of heroes, but if I was going to choose one hero, it would be Albert Cossery. A wrier who is devoted to watching pretty girls from cafes and being lazy. With those two high-standard activities, this is a writer I will follow from heaven to hell. "Laziness in the Fertile Valley" is another one of his masterpieces that deals with a set of characters who prefer to do nothing when 'something' appears and shows its ugly heard. What we have here is a family of men, who one, the older brother prefers and does only a great deal of sleeping. Waking up for the occasional meal, and then back to bed. The younger brother, foolishly has a desire to go out of the house and find work, and the Dad, is busy arranging a marriage, but has to deal with some rather old guy's specific problems.
Cossery, Egyptian born, but lived most of his adult life in Paris cafes - mostly all located in the St. Germain des Prés section of Paris, is a writer who according to Anna Della Subin in her informative afterword enclosed in this book, came from a family of lazy people. His grandfather, for instance, refused to leave his bedroom. For me this is a much desired lifestyle. There is a tinge of jealousy when I read Cossery's novels, but alas, the enjoyment I get from them is a sense of bliss.
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