My Friends

“Slim, dismal, hilarious.” —Sheila Heti, Bookforum

“Bove is the Proust of the other end of the bourgeoisie.” —Keith Botsford

“An ironic, beautifully understated and entertaining early existentialist novel…. Contemporary readers will find Bove’s world, of postwar Paris, fascinating and entertaining, and his skill in rendering it impressive.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[Bove’s] first novel is as buoyant as fresh bread. It is also sad, funny and engagingly written in short, sober sentences which seem to flow with the ease of everyday talk. Beneath this appearance, to be sure, lies the art which conceals art, for Emmanuel Bove’s style is thriftily pared down and his choice of detail cleverly persuasive. The surprise is not in learning that his books appealed in their time to Colette, Rainer Maria Rilke and Samuel Beckett, but rather that they should have sunk since then into near oblivion.” —Julia O’Faolain, Los Angeles Times

Emmanuel Bove (1898-1945) was a French journalist and novelist. He had been publishing popular novels under the pseudonym Jean Vallois for several years when Colette helped him publish My Friends under his own name. He continued publishing successful novels until World War II, at which time he was forced into exile in Algeria. He died of heart failure soon after returning to Paris from exile.

Janet Louth has translated several books by Emmanuel Bove, including My Friends, Armand, and A Man Who Knows. She lives in Manchester, England.

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