Paper Conspiracies

by Susan Daitch

One of the most sensational incidents in the history of France, the Dreyfus Affair was a landmark federal case involving treason and antisemitism. A controversial documentary about the trial by pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès caused riots when it was shown in 1899, and was banned from any screening in France for the next three quarters of a century. Who engineered Dreyfus's conviction? Was the man who played him in the film actually murdered by a mob of enraged moviegoers? And why is Jack Kews, a shadowy 20th-century Zola in New York City, so determined to find out? A web of intrigue, menace and betrayal reaches through space and time, as the search for keys to a historic trap hones in on a cache of zealously guarded forgeries and tins of crumbling film stock. "This erudite page-turner takes us from late 19th-century France to the film studios of the great Georges Méliès to the tribulations of a film restorer who finds herself caught up in political intrigue, a century after the famous Affaire Dreyfus . As in her celebrated L. C. , Daitch constructs a compelling dialogue with an earlier century that shifts our perspective on our own time."—Susan Bernofsky, Foreign Words "It's Susan Daitch at her finest! A smart, absorbing study of those at the margins of history who, under her deft pen, turn out to be vital. Fascinating story, captivating writing."—Deb Olin unferth, The Year I Fell In Love and Went to Join the War " . . . Daitch manages to reveal her characters in a light that makes us wonder if we are seeing them as they are or as another shadowy transparency. While the book is extensive in scope, the writing is sharp and lean."— The Black Sheep Dances "Daitch has lost none of the bristling intelligence that makes her work so uniquely literary. . . . Daitch's narrative can certainly be enjoyed as cerebral noir; the cryptic calls and notes delivered to Frances are reminiscent of Paul Auster."— The Review of Contemporary Fiction "The world Susan Daitch spins is like uncovering a lost history first-hand through the eyes and ears of those who were there. An engrossing novel for the age of censorship and redaction."— Tottenville Review "Enthusiastically recommended to fans of highbrow, erudite historical fiction. Readers who enjoy the novels of Umberto Eco, for example, will probably also enjoy those of Ms. Daitch."— New York Journal of Books "Questions of integrity, authenticity and the slipperiness of 'truth' in a politicized society animate Susan Daitch's ambitious and highly satisfying novel about France's infamous Dreyfus Affair and its legacy."— Shelf Awareness Susan Daitch is the author of four novels— The Lost Civilization of Suolucidir (City Lights), Paper Conspiracies (City Lights), L. C. (Lannan Foundation Selection and NEA Heritage Award), The Colorist— and a collection of short stories, Storytown . Her work has appeared in a variety of publications such as The Pushcart Prize Anthology , The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Fiction and The Brooklyn Rail . Her work was featured in The Review of Contemporary Fiction along with William Vollman and David Foster Wallace. She taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She currently teaches at Hunter College.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature, France

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Susan Daitch is the author of four novels, L.C. (Lannan Foundation Selection and NEA Heritage Award), THE COLORIST, PAPER CONSPIRACIES, THE LOST CIVILIZATION OF SUOLUCIDIR and a collection of short stories, STORYTOWN. A novella, FALL OUT, published by Madras Press donates all proceeds to Women for Afghan Women. Her work has appeared in Tinhouse, Lit Hub, Slice, Black Clock, Conjunctions, Guernica, Bomb, Ploughshares, The Barcelona Review, Redivider, Zeek, failbetter.com, McSweeney's, Salt Hill Journal, Pacific Review, Dewclaw, Dear Navigator,
The Library of Potential Literature, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Fiction. Her work was featured in The Review of Contemporary Fiction along with William Vollman and David Foster Wallace. She has been the recipient of two Vogelstein awards and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship. She has taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop and currently teaches at Hunter College.

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

expertly written novel of the Dreyfus affair and the mystery of the 'secret' footage at the end of the 13 minute film about his 2nd trial by melies http://www.dreyfus.culture.fr/en/the-... that started a riot and ensuing deaths. he was found guilty the 2nd time too, i think. story goes back a nd forth from 21st cent nyc to 20th cent paris. i cannot get over how erudite and lush this lady's prose is and the intrigue, character studies and mystery are delicious.

david cooper of ny journal of books says this about it: "“This review’s brief synopsis cannot possibly convey the novel’s wealth of detail and interconnected plot elements that demand attentive reading. . . . Paper Conspiracies rewards rereading. Enthusiastically recommended to fans of highbrow, erudite historical fiction. Readers who enjoy the novels of Umberto Eco, for example, will probably also enjoy those of Ms. Daitch.”

[City Lights Booksellers & Publishers · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Questions of integrity, authenticity and the slipperiness of 'truth' in a politicized society animate Susan Daitch's ambitious and highly satisfying novel about France's infamous Dreyfus Affair and its legacy." - Shelf Awareness

"Enthusiastically recommended to fans of highbrow, erudite historical fiction. Readers who enjoy the novels of Umberto Eco, for example, will probably also enjoy those of Ms. Daitch." - New York Journal of Books

". . . Daitch manages to reveal her characters in a light that makes us wonder if we are seeing them as they are or as another shadowy transparency. While the book is extensive in scope, the writing is sharp and lean." - The Black Sheep Dances

[Alex Gilvarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paper Conspiracies is a bold leap of the imagination, and testament to what one can come up with while plumbing the depths of forgotten histories. And even so, Daitch goes six feet deeper. This is much more than a "historical novel," though there's plenty here for readers of historical fiction. The novel is a modern, meta mash-up. It's as if Don DeLillo and Haruki Murakami got together at the offices of the Criterion Collection: the result would be Paper Conspiracies.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my New York Journal of Books review: http://goo.gl/Kkb1S

[Andrew]

Had a bit of a tough time with this one to be honest, and it's largely because of expectations. I was expecting a novel as described on the dust jacket, and what I got, really, were a series of short stories centered around themes of silent film and the Dreyfus Affair. It wasn't bad, it just threw me for a loop I found it a bit hard to recover from, which tells you something about the experience of reading trumping the content of the book itself. Absolutely competent writing throughout, although I wasn't sure how well the whole thing cohered, even when I got over that hump.

[Noa 101]

He fingered Danton's collar, made a chopping motion with his hand. "It's authentic. I bought it from a woman whose great-grandfather had been a guard in the Bastille." "How did he get it?" "I don't know." "Where are the bloodstains?" "It was cleaned.”

Was ready to love this for its themes but the writing was *really* artless and plain, like almost impressively so. I prefer reading that makes me forget about the act of writing, which is why I seem to instinctually avoid the output of contemporary post-professionalization / MFA-industrial-complex authors. Who are the good ones??

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work can be read as a collection of novella-spokes that intersect at the Dreyfus Affair. The novellas differ greatly, in their forms and in their narrators (two are third person, one epistolary, and one is first person and broken in two (first and last parts)). As with any collection, some are “better” than others. Which are the best is something people may differ about.

In terms of the sensibility of the narrator (in the first/last novella) and the protagonist (in the last novella), and in terms of the subject matter (the films of Georges Méliès), I preferred the first/last and the final novellas. I had little interest in the second novella (it was a shock after the first), but it is short. I found the third somewhere in the middle, and skipped the fourth altogether to get to the final one and the end of the first. One can do that in a collection. One reason for my impatience with this book was that, especially after reading Eco’s The Prague Cemetery, I was tired of conspiracies (this deals with conspiracy in a much more interesting way).

The sensibility that Daitch gives to the narrator of the first/last novella is something very special. There is an unexpectedness to the way the narrator’s mind works that I found enchanting.

Reading the first/last novella, I felt that I had found a great contemporary American writer. The final novella, in the third person, is also excellent. Reading the whole, I feel I have found an excellent, courageous writer, whom I can’t wait to read more of.

[David Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paper Conspiracies by Susan Daitch (City Lights Books, 2011) is a remarkable novel that begins with Francis, a film restorer working on the obscure 1899 silent French film The Dreyfus Affair by director George Méliès. A mysterious man keeps contacting Francis about wanting to view the final scenes of the film, but she refuses. The story then goes into the labyrinth of what was known as the Dreyfus Affair, where Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent was convicted of spying for the Germans in 1894. The following sentence from Paper Conspiracies is a good indication of the complexity of the characters and situations at hand in this dynamic story: “Yes, in desperation I’ve composed banquet speeches for the tongue-tied, proposing colonial expansion in Algiers or New Caledonia one night and revolution in the colonies the next, all obviously written under another name.”

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I must thank the author and Goodreads - I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

I think I will have to read this again, although I liked the book, I felt that I was sometimes missing parts of the plot. I suspect that it was another one of those time that I wasn't "in the mood" for this kind of book but continued to read it anyways, not the auhors fault I hasten to add ( had the same problem with Dolores Clairborne - first time i tried to read it couldnt get past first chapter the second time I couldnt put it down and read it in a day!).

I did however find my interest piqued enough to do a bit of research about the characters at the centre of this story and my knowledge of this event is greatly improved.

I will reread and return to review again.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will start this book tomorrow. I received this free edition from Goodreads give aways. I can't wait! It sounds good.

Huh. I'm going to get my mother to read this and get a second opinion.

[Sue Frost · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up after 100-or so pages. The characters ramblings were too hard to follow.

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving up halfway through. Too convoluted--I have NO idea what is going on, or by whom. Really enjoyed the first third.