Arabesques

the long version

Arabesques. A tale of double lives is Robert Dessaix' very personal, and very subjective biography of André Gide. In fact, it is more of a kaleidoscopic travelogue than a biography. The subtitle A tale of double lives refers as much to the double lives led by Gide, as well as the intertwined exploration of the parallels and contrasts between the lives of Gide and the author. In the absence of a clear chronologie, the book has a dream-like quality of preponderences on the life of André Gide and its author Robert Dessaix, as Dessaix retraces Gide's steps in his travels all over the Western Mediterranean, with particular attention to North Africa, as chapter titles suggest visits to Algiers, Blidah, Tornac, Anduze, Morocco, Cuverville (France), Sousse and Biskra.