Savage

Alluding to Jean-Paul Sartre's famous study of Gustave Flaubert, Jouet's recent book asks, "What, at this point in time, can we make of a man?" As a member of the Oulipo (Ouvroir de Littrature Potentielle), a group of French writers and mathematicians who use constrained writing techniques for inspiration, Jouet's literary output is often characterized as avant-garde. This is a work of fiction based upon the life of painter Paul Gauguin. The prose is a first-person stream of consciousness that follows Paul, a clothing designer, in search of inspiration. Traveling among the people of France's colonies, Paul adopts a radical approach to design and, in the process, unravels his own sense of civility among the "savages." While his ideas expand artistically, his body and mind deteriorate physically from disease. In the end, the reader wonders whether Paul gained insight at the expense of sanity or vice versa. Often fascinating and brilliant, this book contains much of value for the patient reader, but it is not for everyone. Recommended for those interested in subversive and experimental fiction.Joshua Finnell, McNeese State Univ. Lib., Lake Charles, LA Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.