I Want to Keep Smashing Myself Until I Am Whole: An Elias Canetti Reader

In this impressive career-spanning edition, novelist Cohen brings together the works of prolific writer Elias Canetti (1905–1994), an “exile, cosmopole, [and] polyglot” per Cohen’s introduction. Through autobiography, fiction, and aphorism Canetti gained a reputation as a keen observer, eventually winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981. The collection’s first section, “Notes and Memoirs,” contains various entries on such topics as Canetti’s earliest memory (“I kept it to myself and asked my mother about it only much later”) and group pride (“I catch myself having reverse prejudices against people who plume themselves on their lofty origin”). Excerpts from his only novel, 1935’s Auto-da-Fé make up the second part; a section titled “Memoirs and Senses” features reflections on “the earwitness” who “makes no effort to look” and “the fun-runner” who lives in a hurry; and samplings from his seminal work, 1960’s Crowds and Power, are featured in part four. The final section, “Death and Transformation,” features “The Profession of the Poet,” an “essay-manifesto” on literature: “In truth, nobody today can be a poet if he doesn’t seriously doubt his right to be one,” he writes. Varied and powerful, this is a great introduction to Canetti’s work. (Sept.)