“He is the transparent observer reclaiming the suffering and exhilaration of his own follies, trials, and evolution. There are no masks; there are veils. He does not retreat; he extracts the noble of the ignoble. The sullied thug advances into the night as a coquette in tattered tulle sewn with scattered spangles, bits of tin caught in the lamplight transposing as glittering stars.”*

A new edition of THE THIEF’S JOURNAL by Jean Genet features an introduction by Patti Smith.

See: theparisreview.org/holy-disobedience-on-jean-genets-the-thiefs-journal

* “Holy Disobedience: An Introduction to the New Edition,” by Patti Smith, copyright © 2018 by Patti Smith.

Excerpted from THE THIEF’S JOURNAL, by Jean Genet, copyright © 1964 by Grove Press. Reprinted with the permission of Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. All rights reserved.

Top: Grove, Atlantic’s new edition of Jean Genet, The Thief’s Journal.

Above: Covering the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Image credit: Esquire.

Bottom: Genet by Brassaï. © Estate Brassaï–RMN.