Seth Whidden is Professor of French at the University of Oxford and editor of Nineteenth-Century French Studies. His publications include Leaving Parnassus: The Lyric Subject in Verlaine and Rimbaud (2007) and Authority in Crisis in French Literature, 1850-1880 (2014). For ten years he served as co-editor of Parade sauvage, the scholarly journal of Rimbaud studies.
"Whidden structures his telling of the story around two central
themes which capture Rimbaud's restless spirit--movement and
writing--and situates Rimbaud's poetic career within the context of
key historical events such as the Franco-Prussian war, the siege of
Paris and the Commune. The exhausting relationship between Rimbaud
and Verlaine is entertainingly recounted, and an elegant reading of
Une saison en enfer breathes new life into the lost art of reading
texts through the lens of the author's life. There are illuminating
readings of Rimbaud's poems throughout, and Whidden succeeds in
making difficult texts accessible, quoting in French with English
translation. . . . An excellent critical introduction to his life
and work for a diverse readership."-- "Forum for Modern Language
Studies"
"[An] exquisite short biography. . . . Whidden returns to what we
know of Rimbaud's life with force and verve, without forgoing close
attention to the work itself. . . . Although Whidden's chapter
titles purport to focus on spaces, it is his ability to give a
sense of time--both in its passing and in its plasticity--that sets
this book apart from similar works. . . . Whidden's art in part
consists of extending this poetic logic to the biographical. . . .
Arthur Rimbaud is an excellent guide to the impossible task of
charting the poet's infinite range and depth."--Thomas C. Connolly
"French Forum"
"This highly engaging new biography, in the acclaimed Critical
Lives series, brims with scholarly insight and moves along with
verve. Whidden wears his erudition lightly and illuminatingly as he
blends biography, poetry analysis, cultural history, and the
background of the Siege of Paris and the Commune. The biography
packs an informational punch for readers new to Rimbaud and also
for those seeking to refresh their knowledge of the creative and
personal parcours of one of global modernity's landmark poets."--
"Modern & Contemporary France"
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