{"product_id":"the-self-devoted-friend-paperback","title":"The Self-Devoted Friend - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMarvin Cohen\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eRick Schober\u003c\/b\u003e (Cover Design by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e50th-anniversary edition of critically acclaimed writer Marvin Cohen's debut fiction. Not quite a novel, the book is best described as a series of humorous philosophical dialogues between the narrator and his \"other\" self, touching on a vast array of subjects such as birth, love, art, nature, religion, death, and everything in between.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A mere 1,500 hardcover copies of \u003cem\u003eThe Self-Devoted Friend\u003c\/em\u003e were printed in London by publisher Rapp \u0026amp; Carroll Limited in 1967, 750 of which were imported by New Directions Publishing for distribution in the United States. According to Cohen, New Directions publisher James Laughlin explained his decision behind the very limited edition by saying it was \"only for the happy few.\" Despite its overwhelmingly positive critical reception, no further copies of the book were ever produced. Completely reformatted, this new paperback edition contains the full text of the original and the author has also written a new brief introduction.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"When I was an unpublished writer 55 years ago, I lived in the same crummy tenement as Marvin Cohen in New York, and got to know him and his extraordinary writing. To me he was the Beckett of Avenue B -- funnier, more accessible, but just as determined to show us the world in a new way. Cohen is the chronicler of frustration, and \u003cem\u003eThe Self-Devoted Friend\u003c\/em\u003e is just one of his masterpieces.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaul Theroux\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"It is rare these days -- perhaps, any days -- to come across a work that not only reveals a striking, fresh talent, but stands outside current literary preoccupations. What Mr. Cohen has is his own: a joy in language, and an eye, at once innocent and shrewd, for the paradoxes inherent in the human condition. He puts both language and people through their paces, stands them on their heads, and hugs them to his heart in what amounts as a tour de force of serio-comedy, a sort of superb clowning in which pathos and absurdity intertwine as they do in a Charlie Chaplin film.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Cohen surrealistically juxtaposes ideas, seeks irrational and fantastic links, but for the high purposes of verbal comedy and linguistic entertainment.\"\u003cem\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eThe New Statesman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e (London)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Marvin Cohen's wacky humor has something of Thurber, something of Steinberg, Buster Keaton, the surrealists, the pataphysicians. \u003cem\u003eThe Self-Devoted Friend\u003c\/em\u003e is a book that should be read immediately by all who gladly recognize themselves to be half crazy.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThomas Merton\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Such discontinuous fictions as \u003cem\u003eFinnegans Wake\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003eNaked Lunch\u003c\/em\u003e or Marvin Cohen's \u003cem\u003eThe Self-Devoted Friend\u003c\/em\u003e would store more suitably than nineteenth-century novels.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Kostelanetz\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 166\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.35 x 8.27 x 5.83 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 01, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42723254272063,"sku":"9780692872819","price":18.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/58dae81a5c5e78a51f372fcdecd46437.webp?v=1765098538","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/the-self-devoted-friend-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}