Camille Bordas

Eleven-year-old "Isidore has never skipped a grade or written a dissertation [as his five accomplished siblings have]. But he notices things the others don't, and asks questions they fear to ask. So when tragedy strikes the Mazal family, Isidore is the only one to recognize how everyone is struggling with their grief, and perhaps the only one who can help them--if he doesn't run away from home first"--Amazon.com.

A Novel

How to Behave in a Crowd

Material

The Material

Offside Constantly

Can comedy be taught? Someone, at some point, seemed to think so. The teachers and students at the Chicago Stand-Up school all know how to make people laugh - in theory. They know the line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, and that any moment of your life is a punchline waiting to happen. They're all afraid of that. Artie may be too handsome for stand-up, Olivia reluctant to examine her own life, and Phil afraid to cause harm. Kruger concentrates more on commanding his father's respect than his students', Ashbee is too detached. And then we have Dorothy - the only woman on the faculty - who, though preparing to launch a comeback tour, can't tell whether she's too abiding, ambitious, or ambivalent. Whether a visiting comedian - the famous, controversy-steeped Manny Reinhardt - will do more to help or harm their cause remains to be seen. But he'll be arriving sooner than anyone thinks. Riffing keenly across an array of perspectives, The Material examines life through the eyes of a band of outsiders bound together by whatever it is about themselves that makes them so desperate to make others laugh.

Come muoversi tra la folla

A witty, heartfelt novel that brilliantly evokes the confusions of adolescence and marks the arrival of an extraordinary young talent. Isidore Mazal is eleven years old, the youngest of six siblings living in a small French town. He doesn't quite fit in. Berenice, Aurore, and Leonard are on track to have doctorates by age twenty-four. Jeremie performs with a symphony, and Simone, older than Isidore by eighteen months, expects a great career as a novelist—she's already put Isidore to work on her biography. The only time they leave their rooms is to gather on the old, stained couch and dissect prime-time television dramas in light of Aristotle's Poetics. Isidore has never skipped a grade or written a dissertation. But he notices things the others don't, and asks questions they fear to ask. So when tragedy strikes the Mazal family, Isidore is the only one to recognize how everyone is struggling with their grief, and perhaps the only one who can help them—if he doesn't run away from home first. Isidore’s unstinting empathy, combined with his simmering anger, makes for a complex character study, in which the elegiac and comedic build toward a heartbreaking conclusion. With How to Behave in a Crowd, Camille Bordas immerses readers in the interior life of a boy puzzled by adulthood and beginning to realize that the adults around him are just as lost.

Birlikte Yasamanin Yollari

Most die young

Cum să te porți într-o familie mare

Difficile à onze ans de trouver sa place dans une famille de surdoués, surtout lorsqu'on se contente d'être "normal". Entouré de cinq frères et soeurs qui dissertent à table des mérites comparés de Deleuze et Aristote, Isidore recherche d'abord l'affection de son meilleur ami, monument de douceur : son canapé. Dans sa famille, seul Isidore est capable d'exprimer des émotions, de poser les questions que les autres n'osent pas formuler. Et lorsqu'un drame survient, il est le seul capable d'écouter et réconforter son prochain. A moins que, épris d'ailleurs, il ne réussisse enfin une énième fugue qui lui ouvrirait un monde de liberté et de légèreté. Dans "Comment se comporter dans la foule", écrit initialement en anglais par l'auteure, Camille Bordas brosse avec humour le portrait sensible d'un jeune garçon qui s'affranchit de son enfance sous le regard d'adultes encore plus désorientés que lui. Une fresque familiale tendre et émouvante, un portrait d'adolescent plein de finesse, une voix littéraire qui s'affirme plus que jamais.

Isidore et les autres

Après avoir abrité trois générations d’une famille désormais éclatée, la maison de famille des Manin est à vendre. Elle ne contient plus qu’un lot de vieilles photos et d’objets épars dont personne ne se soucie. On ne lui rend plus visite. Elle attend ses nouveaux propriétaires. Au fond, comme toutes les maisons, elle cherche la compagnie des hommes. Aussi, quand Hector, un metteur en scène peu bavard, arrive avec à sa suite sept comédiens déterminés à la transformer en théâtre, la maison se voit déjà en haut de l’affiche. D’abord irritée par la présence d’Isis, une nouvelle recrue d’Hector, la maison va peu à peu se faire apprivoiser par cette comédienne au parcours chaotique, et composer avec le reste de la troupe une pièce unique dont elle sera bien plus que le décor... Ce deuxième roman très maîtrisé de Camille Bordas poursuit l’exploration de ces moments de latence qui ponctuent chaque vie, ceux où affleurent les doutes et d’où émerge le changement. Ils sont ici envisagés avec humour et détachement, dans une langue rythmée qui met en scène de sacrés caractères.

Partie commune

Una absorbente comedia negra que evoca la confusión de la adolescencia y descubre a una novelista de un talento extraordinario. Isidore Mazal acaba de aterrizar en la adolescencia, es el pequeño de seis hermanos y vive en un pequeño pueblo francés. Sus hermanos Berenice, Aurore y Leonard van camino de doctorarse con veinticuatro años; Jeremie toca en una orquesta sinfónica, y Simone, dieciocho meses mayor que Isidore, ansía hacer carrera como novelista. En las únicas ocasiones en las que los hermanos abandonan sus habitaciones, es para reunirse en su viejo sofá, desde donde diseccionan series de televisión a la luz de la "Poética" de Aristóteles. Isidore nunca se ha saltado un curso ni ha escrito una tesis doctoral, pero se da cuenta de cosas que el resto parecen ignorar y hace preguntas que los demás temen preguntar; así que, cuando la tragedia irrumpe en las vidas de la familia Mazal, Isidore es el único en percatarse de cómo los miembros de su familia lidian con el dolor, y, probablemente, sea el único que pueda ayudarles si antes no se escapa de casa. Las vidas de todos estos personajes toman forma a medida que Isidore nos va contando los hechos desde su punto de vista infantil, inocente y, a ratos, cruel. En su afán por entender a los adultos que le rodean y de encontrar su papel en la familia, Isidore nos abre la puerta a la vida de unos personajes familiares y al mismo tiempo fascinantes, conocidos pero sorprendentes. Su espléndida empatía, combinada con su profunda rabia, hacen de él un personaje en el que lo elegíaco se mezcla con lo cómico para derivar en una conclusión desgarradora. Con " Cómo comportarse en la multitud", Camille Bordas sumerge al lector en el interior de la vida de un niño perplejo con el mundo de los adultos, que comprende que ellos están tan perdidos como él. "Un libro encantador y especialmente maravilloso por la madura amabilidad de su visión de la humanidad. Camille Bordas es una nueva voz imprescindible." George Saunders "La Salinger francesa. ¿Qué más se puede pedir?" Catherine Lacey "Camille Bordas es absolutamente brillante, pronto arrasará en el triste paisaje de las letras americanas." Jesse Ball "A la vez tierna y desgarradora, pero también aguda y divertida, " Cómo comportarse en la multitud" es una historia brillantemente urdida sobre las idiosincrasias y las luchas de hacerse mayor. Esta novela ingeniosa, emocionante e inteligente es de lectura obligada." Yasmine El Rashidi

Cómo comportarse en la multitud

Isidore, per tutti Dory, anche se lui preferirebbe Izzie, ha undici anni ed è il più giovane di sei fratelli che vivono in una piccola città francese insieme alla madre e un padre sempre in giro per lavoro. Rispetto agli altri fratelli si sente incompleto e insicuro: Berenice, Aurore e Leonard, i maggiori, sono sulla buona strada per ottenere un dottorato molto prima dei loro coetanei più brillanti; Jeremie è un violoncellista di altissimo livello, e Simone, compagna di stanza di Isidore, pianifica per sé una grande carriera da scrittrice, tanto che ha già messo il fratello a lavorare alla sua biografia. I sei ragazzi lasciano raramente le loro stanze, dove studiano tutto il giorno, se non per riunirsi sul vecchio divano a interpretare i programmi televisivi alla luce della Poetica di Aristotele. Dory è un discreto studente ma meno dotato dei suoi formidabili fratelli. La sua normalità, al loro cospetto, sembra un fallimento. Tuttavia è il solo che cerca di costruire delle relazioni, mentre per gli altri la conoscenza è più importante dell’amicizia. È astuto, ironico, empatico e rabbioso: vede cose che i fratelli non notano e fa domande che loro temono di porre. Perciò, quando una tragedia li colpisce, Isidore diventa, a sua insaputa, la pietra angolare della famiglia. L’unico che comprende come stiano tutti lottando con il rispettivo dolore e, forse, l’unico in grado di aiutarli, se soltanto riesce a trattenersi dallo scappare di casa. Camille Bordas, in Come muoversi tra la folla, immerge i lettori nella vita interiore di un ragazzo alle prese con la scoperta che anche gli adulti spesso sono smarriti quanto lui. Un romanzo magnifico e apprezzato in tutto il mondo, che racconta le vicende di un personaggio indimenticabile della

A single momentous day transforms the lives of students and professors at a school for stand-up comedy in a novel that explores the humor and tragedy of everyday existence, from "an invaluable new voice" (George Saunders) Can comedy be taught? Someone, at some point, seemed to think so. The Chicago Stand-Up program has enrolled young comedians for nearly a decade. Its teachers and students all know how bits work—in theory, at least. They know that there's a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, that the worst is the best, the truth is the worst, and any moment of your life that isn’t a punchline will either get you to a punchline or force you to be one. They’re all afraid to be one. Artie may be too handsome for standup, Olivia too reluctant to examine her own life, and Phil too afraid to cause harm. Kruger may be too vanilla to command his students’ respect, Ashbee too detached. And then we have Dorothy—the only woman on the program’s faculty—who though preparing to launch a comeback tour can’t tell if she’s too abiding, too ambitious, or too ambivalent. Whether a visiting professor—the high-profile, controversy-steeped comedian, Manny Reinhardt—will do more to help or harm their cause remains to be seen. But he’s on his way. He’ll be arriving sooner than anyone thinks. Riffing keenly across a diverse array of precision-cut perspectives, The Material examines life through the eyes of a reluctantly assembled ensemble, a band of outsiders bound together by the need to laugh, and the longing to make others laugh even harder.

Camille Bordas

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