''Hocus Bogus'' (french: Pseudo) is a 1976 novel by the French writer

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew (, and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar), was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt under two names. He i ...

, published under the pseudonym Émile Ajar. The book was written after Paul Pavlowitch, the son of Gary's cousin, had been presented as the man behind the pseudonym Ajar. It asserts to tell the story of Pavlowitch's literary experiences from his own perspective, and comments on the recent success with '' The Life Before Us'', the subsequent speculation that the author might be Gary, as well as explains his reclusiveness with the revelation that he has schizophrenia.

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Michael Dirda Michael Dirda (born 1948) is a book critic for the ''Washington Post''. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Career Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree in 1970, Dirda took an M.A. in 1974 a ...

reviewed the book in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' in 2010, and wrote that "In truth, ''Hocus Bogus'' is an utterly convincing impersonation of an artistically gifted schizophrenic, worthy to stand on the same shelf as

Paul Ableman Paul Victor Ableman (13 June 1927 – 25 October 2006) was an English playwright and novelist. He was the writer of much erotic fiction and novelisations, and a freelance writer who turned his hand to non-fiction. Life and career Ableman was born ...

's classic ''I Hear Voices'' and Louis Wolfson's ''Le Schizo et les Langues''." Dirda commented on how the book successfully had suppressed the rumours that Ajar was somebody else than Pavlowitch, and continued: "Nowadays, we can more fully appreciate the tour de force that Gary brings off ... To read ''Hocus Bogus'' in Bellos's superb translation is to marvel at its dizzyingly distorted syntax ('I don't speak Danish, but not well enough'), constant wit ('reptiles are always first in the firing line when it comes to hate speech') and sheer energy."

References

1976 French novels Novels by Romain Gary Novels about writers Works published under a pseudonym Fictional portrayals of schizophrenia {{1970s-novel-stub

Reception

See also

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