Librarian/Curator for European Studies
Background
Anne Berest's The Postcard
October 19, 2023, 4:00-5:30pm PDT
Charles E. Young Research Library, Main Conference Room
Anne Berest discussed her autobiographical French novel, The Postcard (2021). Winner of the American Choix Goncourt Prize and other awards, the novel follows the author as she investigates a family mystery rooted in the Holocaust and reconnects with her Jewish identity. Book sales and a signing followed the event.
The event was hosted by the UCLA Library in partnership with the Skirball Cultural Center, the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, the UCLA Department of Comparative Literature, and the UCLA Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies.
Organized by Shannon K. Tanhayi Ahari (Librarian/Curator for European Studies)
and Gissel Rios (Selection and Outreach Support Assistant)
Speaker
Anne Berest is the bestselling co-author of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are (Doubleday, 2014) and the author of a novel based on the life of French writer Françoise Sagan. With her sister Claire, she is also the author of Gabriële, a critically acclaimed biography of her great-grandmother, Gabriële Buffet-Picabia, Marcel Duchamp’s lover and muse. She is the great- granddaughter of the painter Francis Picabia. For her work as a writer and prize-winning showrunner, she has been profiled in publications such as French Vogue and Haaretz newspaper. The recipient of numerous literary awards in France, The Postcard was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize and has been a long-selling bestseller in France. The Postcard was published in English on Tuesday May 16 and is her first novel to appear in English translation.
Moderator
Aliza Luft is an assistant professor of sociology at UCLA whose research examines the fluctuating relationships between social identity, ideology, and interpersonal, socio-political action in violent contexts. Her book, Sacred Treason: Race, Religion, and The Holocaust in France, is under contract with Harvard University Press. Another book, the second Handbook of The Sociology of Morality, is forthcoming with Springer (co-authored with Shai Dromi and Steve Hitlin). Other research has been published in journals such as Political Power & Social Theory, Qualitative Sociology, Sociological Theory, and European Journal of Sociology. She has also published numerous op-Eds and interviews in The Washington Post; New Yorker; LA Times; NY Times, and elsewhere.
Session Recording (coming soon)
Selected Works
The Postcard by ISBN: 9781609458386Date: 2023-05-16Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest's The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling. January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest's maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques--all killed at Auschwitz. Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, the heroine of this novel, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris. What emerges is a moving saga that shatters long-held certainties about Anne's family, her country, and herself.
La carte postale (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782253937708Date: 2022French Edition: In January 2003, among an assortment of greeting cards, Anne Berest found a strange, anonymous postcard in her mailbox. On one side was an image of the Opéra Garnier, and on the other, the names of four members of her family who died in Auschwitz in 1942. Twenty years later she decides to investigate, retracing the Rabinovitch’s extraordinary destiny with the help of her mother, a private detective, and a criminologist. Anne Berest also seeks to understand how her grandmother, Myriam, was the only one to escape deportation. This moving book is at once an investigation, the novel of Berest’s ancestors, and a quest for the meaning of the word “Jew” in a secular life.
Sagan 1954 (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782234077409Date: 2014"Before Françoise Sagan the literary icon, there was Françoise Quoirez, an eighteen-year-old Parisian girl, who wrote a novel and needed a publisher for it. This intimate narrative details the months in 1954 leading up to the publication of the legendary Bonjour Tristesse. We encounter Françoise, her family and friends close up, in a post-war world that is changing radically; and Mlle Quoirez, in her new guise of Françoise Sagan, will be at the heart of that social change. Sagan was always focused on her writing, though at times the fame of her books was to be eclipsed by her wild-child reputation. Yet, as Anne Berest herself testifies, Sagan's fearless approach to life lived on her own terms remains an inspiration even now" (publisher's description).
How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by ISBN: 9780385538657Date: 2014-09-02From four stunning and accomplished French women--a charming bestseller about how to slip into your inner cool and be a Parisienne. In short, frisky sections, these Parisian women give you their very original views on style, beauty, culture, attitude and men. The authors--Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas--unmarried but attached, with children--have been friends for years. Talented bohemian iconoclasts with careers in the worlds of music, film, fashion and publishing, they are untypically frank and outspoken as they debunk the myths about what it means to be a French woman today. Letting you in on their secrets and flaws, they also make fun of their complicated, often contradictory feelings and behavior. They admit to being snobs, a bit self-centered, unpredictable but not unreliable. Bossy and opinionated, they are also tender and romantic. You will be taken on a first date, to a party, to some favorite haunts in Paris, to the countryside, and to one of their dinners at home with recipes even you could do -- but to be out with them is to be in for some mischief and surprises. They will tell you how to be mysterious and sensual, look natural, make your boyfriend jealous, and how they feel about children, weddings and going to the gym. And they will share their address book in Paris for where to go: At the End of the Night, for A Birthday, for a Smart Date, A Hangover, for Vintage Finds and much more.
La fille de son père (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782021027839Date: 2010Three sisters, whose lives have drifted apart, reunite at their father's house for a birthday dinner. In their childhood home, memories surface. Gestures become nervous, tongues wag and resentments surface around the table. During dessert, a family secret is revealed. It's a ticking time bomb that will gradually alter the daily lives of each of the girls. A sharp first novel that probes the bittersweet relationships of three young women and a father (Publisher's description, translated).
Les patriarches (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782246800842Date: 2012Anne Berest writes a powerful, wide-ranging novel about a generation whose painful legend she questions. Denise is twenty-two and wants to know. She's in search of a fragment of the life of her father, a short-lived, moody seducer who died of an overdose. When her mother refuses to tell her more about the trip he took in 1985, far from his family, Denise asks questions of those who crossed paths with him at the time, in particular a certain Gérard Rambert, an excessive character who fascinated her. What happened in 1985 in the Patriarch's sect? Is Denise in danger of losing her innocence? (Publisher's description, translated)
Recherche femme parfaite (ON ORDER) by Call Number: 2015ISBN: 9782246852445Recherche femme parfaite is a novel, a modern fable about the quest for perfection in which women lose themselves when they insist on being exemplary in every area of their lives: marriage, family, and work. Julie and Emilienne share the same floor. Julie is a senior executive, and Emilienne is a photographer. One is altruistic, a perfectionist, in love with her husband, and always in a good mood. The other is a dilettante, an easy-going girl with a dark sense of humor, and a slight alcoholic. One night, Julie, the ideal woman, falls into a fit of madness. Emilienne discovers that her neighbor is suffering from depression, hidden from those around her. She decides to find out why, and sets off to photograph the "perfect women" her friend so desperately wants to be like. But nothing goes according to plan... Along the way, she meets a country doctor, a teenage skateboarding champion, a pharmacist who is a victim of her own beauty, a lawyer who looks like Sophie Calle, the famous Zahia - and also an idea of love. This search will be the occasion for a surprising journey, a burlesque roadbook that will take her from Orleans to Arles via Venice. Recherche femme parfaite is the story of a lifelong friendship. Behind the apparent humor, it's also a reflection on our relationship to the body, to thinness and sexuality (Publisher's description, translated).
Gabriële (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782234080324Date: 2017September 1908. Gabriële Buffet, a young woman of twenty-seven, independent, a musician, and a feminist before her time, meets Francis Picabia, a successful painter with a sulfurous reputation. He needed renewal in his work, and she was ready to break the mold: inspire, make people think, and theorize. She became "the woman with the erotic brain" who brought all men to their knees, including Marcel Duchamp and Guillaume Apollinaire. Between Paris, New York, Berlin, Zurich, Barcelona, Étival, and Saint-Tropez, Gabriële guided the precursors of abstract art, the Futurists and Dada, always at the cutting edge of artistic progress. This book takes us back to the beginning of the twentieth century that reinvented the codes of beauty and society (Publisher's description, translated).
La Visite ; suivi de, Les Filles de nos filles (ON ORDER) by ISBN: 9782330131548Date: 2020"La Visits (The Visit)”: A young mother receives a visit from her husband's estranged family, who should be home from work soon. Alone in front of an audience that hasn't come for her, she launches into an uncompromising, unrestrained monologue, sweeping away reflections on motherhood, the myth of perfect happiness stemming from the miracle! Gradually plunging into a delirium that feeds her argument on maternal instinct, she comes to the brink of implosion. A lonely woman at a loss in the eyes of society, no longer able to play the role expected of her (Publisher's description, translated).
“Les Filles de nos Filles”: Philippe, a successful photographer, presents a series of portraits of women taken in his youth. In the middle of the party, during which a major collector decides to buy all the photographs, a woman appears with two children. Who is this woman? What is her place in the photographer's work? Model, muse, creator? Why has she put the man on the run, and what does she want? What is her struggle? An eminently feminist play, "Les Filles de nos filles" raises the question of the status of women creators, their role in the evolution of art, and their non-recognition, robbed as they are of having invented, renewed and created. (Publisher's description, translated).
Event Photos
Anne Berest
French author Anne Berest poses with a copy of her award-winning novel, The Postcard.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
Introducing Anne Berest and The Postcard
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, introduces the author Anne Berest and provides a synopsis of the book The Postcard.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
A Reading in French
Anne Berest reads an excerpt in French from her book, The Postcard.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
In Conversation
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, award-winning French author, engage in a conversation about the book The Postcard and the historical context surrounding the events in the book.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
In Conversation
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, award-winning French author, engage in a conversation about the book The Postcard and the historical context surrounding the events in the book.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
In Conversation
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, award-winning French author, engage in a conversation about the book The Postcard and the historical context surrounding the events in the book.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
In Conversation
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, award-winning French author, engage in a conversation about the book The Postcard and the historical context surrounding the events in the book.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
In Conversation
Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, award-winning French author, engage in a conversation about the book The Postcard and the historical context surrounding the events in the book.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
UCLA Community
Diverse members of the UCLA community, ranging from students and faculty to alumni, attend a reading and conversation with Anne Berest, French author of the award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macasia/UCLA
Q&A
Shannon Tanhayi Ahari, Librarian/Curator for European Studies, facilitates the Q&A session.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Q&A
An audience member asks French author Anne Berest a question regarding her novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Q&A
French author Anne Berest listens to a question from an audience member.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Q&A
An audience member asks French author Anne Berest a question regarding her novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Q&A
French author Anne Berest responds to a question from an audience member.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
The Postcard
Copies of award-winning novel, The Postcard, are stacked on a table in preparation for the book signing that will follow the event.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
UCLA Community
When the event concludes, French author Anne Berest engages in a conversation with members of the audience.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Book Signing
French author Anne Berest meets diverse members of the UCLA community and signs copies of her award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Book Signing
French author Anne Berest meets diverse members of the UCLA community and signs copies of her award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Book signing
French author Anne Berest meets diverse members of the UCLA community and signs copies of her award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Book Signing
French author Anne Berest meets diverse members of the UCLA community and signs copies of her award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Book Signing
French author Anne Berest meets diverse members of the UCLA community and signs copies of her award-winning novel The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Event Conclusion
After the book signing, Aliza Luft, (left) UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Anne Berest, (right) award-winning French author, pose for a photo together.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Event Conclusion
After the book signing, the author, moderator, and event organizers pose for a photo together. (From left to right: Aliza Luft, UCLA Assistant Professor of Sociology; Shannon Tanhayi Ahari, Librarian/Curator for European Studies; Anne Berest, award-winning French author; and Gissel Rios, Selection and Outreach Support Assistant.)
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
The Postcard
A copy of the award-winning book, The Postcard, by the French author Anne Berest.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Event Details
A table is set with various materials (e.g., programs, translated excerpts, and surveys) for event attendees.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA
Event Details
A digital screen in the Charles E. Young Research Library displays information for the event featuring Anne Berest's The Postcard.
Robert Macaisa/UCLA