James Reidel

James Reidel is a poet, translator, and biographer.

James Reidel

James Reidel

James Reidel is a poet and translator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Conjunctions and elsewhere. His translations of Franz Werfel were published by Godine in 2012, and his biography of the poet Weldon Kees, Vanished Act was called “really good, well-written and thoughtful” by Michael Hoffman in The New York Times Book Review. In 2013, Reidel was a Poet in Residence at the James Merrill House in Stonington, Connecticut.

cover image of the book Love Is Like Park Avenue

Love Is Like Park Avenue

by Alvin Levin

Edited by James Reidel

With a contribution by James Reidel

In Love Is Like Park Avenue, Alvin Levin reveals that part of New York society that lived in the Bronx but longed to be in the shadow of skyscrapers — with the dance bands, celebrities, and socialites; his characters create a mirror world of love and sex. This fascinating compendium of Levin’s writings offers a look at the career of an “outsider artist” who was never able to finish a long novel, yet whose fragments are of heartbreaking intensity and amazing social scope. Edited by James Reidel (the biographer of the vanished poet Weldon Kees), Love Is Like Park Avenue contains stories, an unfinished novel, and sketches, all of which either appeared in premier literary magazines, with avant-garde small presses, or were discovered unpublished in boxes. Also contained is correspondence with encouraging publishers, offering the portrait of a brilliant writer who never quite found success despite publication in some of the era’s most prestigious magazines. Levin wrote these unforgettable fictional accounts of life in Depression-era New York, capturing the rhythms and tone of his time with intensity, wit, and probing genius.

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cover image of the book Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales

by Robert Walser

Translated by James Reidel and Daniele Pantano

With a contribution by Reto Sorg

Fairy Tales gathers the unconventional verse dramolettes by the Swiss writer Robert Walser. Narrated in Walser’s inimitable, playful language, these theatrical pieces overturn traditional notions of the fairy tale, transforming the Brothers Grimm into metatheater, even metareflections.

Snow White forgives the evil queen for trying to kill her. Cinderella doubts her prince and enjoys being hated by her stepsisters; The Fairy Tale itself is a character who encourages her to stay within the confines of the story. Sleeping Beauty, the royal family, and its retainers are not happy about being woken up their sleep by an absurd, unpretentious Walser-like hero. Mary and Joseph are taken aback by what lies in store for their baby Jesus.

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cover image of the book Love Is Like Park Avenue

Love Is Like Park Avenue

by Alvin Levin

Edited by James Reidel

With a contribution by James Reidel

In Love Is Like Park Avenue, Alvin Levin reveals that part of New York society that lived in the Bronx but longed to be in the shadow of skyscrapers — with the dance bands, celebrities, and socialites; his characters create a mirror world of love and sex. This fascinating compendium of Levin’s writings offers a look at the career of an “outsider artist” who was never able to finish a long novel, yet whose fragments are of heartbreaking intensity and amazing social scope. Edited by James Reidel (the biographer of the vanished poet Weldon Kees), Love Is Like Park Avenue contains stories, an unfinished novel, and sketches, all of which either appeared in premier literary magazines, with avant-garde small presses, or were discovered unpublished in boxes. Also contained is correspondence with encouraging publishers, offering the portrait of a brilliant writer who never quite found success despite publication in some of the era’s most prestigious magazines. Levin wrote these unforgettable fictional accounts of life in Depression-era New York, capturing the rhythms and tone of his time with intensity, wit, and probing genius.

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