813 George Sand (with Fiona Sampson) | My Last Book with Kathleen Antonioli

Upon her death, French novelist George Sand (1804-1876) was widely recognized as one of the most popular and acclaimed writers in Europe. And yet, even then, the legend of the cigar-smoking, cross-dressing, promiscuous writer threatened to overshadow her literary accomplishments. Fast forward to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the English-speaking world has all but forgotten Sand the novelist, instead recalling her as a side character in a suit, a wannabe artist who hitched her wagon to greater geniuses like Chopin and Flaubert. In this episode, Jacke talks to award-winning poet and biographer Fiona Sampson about her book Becoming George (penguin.co.uk/books/460324/becoming-george-by-…), which examines Sand's iconoclasm and rehabilitates her as an intellectual and artistic giant. PLUS Kathleen Antonioli (Colette: A Critical Life (press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/…)) stops by to tell Jacke about her choice for the last book she will ever read.

On Sale Now! For more information and to order ⁠Great Detective! An Adventure for Two People [2-Book Boxed Set]⁠ (press.historyofliterature.com) by Jacke Wilson, visit ⁠press.historyofliterature.com⁠ (press.historyofliterature.com).

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (gabrielruizbernal.com).

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