Comments from a devoted fan and memorabilia collector and the diary of a family member are combined in an attempt to analyze the off-screen life of the mysterious, elusive Hollywood starlet and bush pilot, Molly Lamanna. A first novel.

Venus Blue

Sobin, Gustaf

Literature & Fiction

Little,Brown & Co

Dying scriptwriter Philip Nilson spends his last days writing about a forgotten but critical moment in the life of Greta Garbo. He tracks that most elusive of film stars to an episode in Constantinople in 1924, where, under the tutelage of impresario Mauritz Stiller, Garbo emerged as one of the dominant icons of the twentieth century. Enthralled by the story, Nilson awakens to the memory of a long-forgotten first love that, he discovers, has held him in its grip for the better part of his life. Ever since, it is only the image - the blazing icon - that substantiates his existence and satisfies his most heartfelt longings. How can Nilson bring his screenplay to a close without bringing his own tenuous life to an end? This novel is both a modern narrative celebrating a glorious moment in the history of cinema and an allegory touching upon the very meaning of existence.

In Pursuit of a Vanishing Star: A Novel

United States

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Philippe Cabassac has fly-truffled every winter since childhood on his family estate in Provence. Stalking the flies that lay their eggs over the odoriferous truffles, he has become a master in this subtle art. With the death of his young wife, Julieta, however, his hunt takes on a new urgency: he discovers that the pungent tubers bring him a series of dreams where his lost wife is restored to him in intimate, prolonged communion. Memory and dream braid together into a magical narrative, and Cabassac's seductive epiphanies overwhelm his waking life as he desperately pursues their promise of redemption and revelation.

The Fly-Truffler: A Novel

Out of the pungent soil and wind-struck orchards of Provence, this enchanting love story will make you believe, if you ever doubted it, in the power of love and the lengths people will go to keep it alive. Philippe Cabassac has fly-truffled―the art of stalking the flies that lay their eggs directly over the truffles―every winter since childhood on his family estate in Provence. Since the death of his young wife, Julieta, the truffles have come to represent something far more than a delicacy for Cabassac's palate: they trigger an evocative sequence of dream visions in which he and his lost wife enter, on winter nights, a state of intimate and prolonged communion. As Cabassac becomes increasingly involved in his dream life with Julieta, he loses his hold on his teaching obligations, on managing his estate, on his waking life altogether. Set against the fading of traditional Provencal culture and an incandescent Mediterranean landscape, The Fly- Truffler celebrates a love that, by its very ardor, outlasts a lifetime. Reading group guide included.

W.W.Norton&Company

Drawing on the life of Greta Garbo, Gustaf Sobin spins a masterful tale about the enigmatic nature of idolatry. Dying scriptwriter Philip Nilson spends his last days writing about a forgotten but critical moment in the life of Greta Garbo. He tracks that most elusive of film stars to an episode in Constantinople in 1924, where, under the tutelage of impresario Mauritz Stiller, Garbo emerges as one of the dominant icons of the twentieth century. Enthralled by the story, Nilson awakens to the memory of a long-forgotten first love that, he discovers, has held him in its grip for the better part of his life. This glowing novel is both a contemporary narrative celebrating a glorious moment in the history of cinema and an allegory touching upon the very meaning of existence.

Interpreting vestige with the eloquence of a poet and the knowledge of a field archaeologist, Gustaf Sobin explores his elected terrain: the landscapes of Provence and Languedoc. Drawing on prehistory, protohistory, and Gallo-Roman antiquity, the twenty-six essays in this book focus on a particular place or artifact for the relevance inherent in each. A Bronze Age earring or the rippling wave pattern in Massiolite ceramic are more than archival curiosities for Sobin. Instead they invite inquiry and speculation on existence itself: Artifacts are read as realia, and history as an uninterrupted sequence of object lessons. As much travel writing as meditative discourse, Luminous Debris is enhanced by a prose that tracks, questions, and reflects on the materials invoked. Sobin engages the reader with precise descriptions of those very materials and the messages to be gleaned from their examination, be they existential, ethical, or political. An American expatriate living in Provence for the past thirty-five years, Gustaf Sobin shares his enthusiasm for his adopted landscape and for a vertical interpretation of its strata. In Luminous Debris he creates meaning out of matter and celebrates instances of reality, past and present.

Luminous Debris: Reflecting on Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

History & Criticism

University of California Press

Bits of late Roman coinage, the mutilated torso of a marble Venus, blue debris from an early medieval glassworks, and the powder rasped from the reputed tomb of Mary Magdalene—these tantalizing mementos of human history found scattered throughout the landscape of southeastern France are the points of departure for Gustaf Sobin's lyrical narrative. A companion volume to his acclaimed Luminous Debris, Ladder of Shadows picks up where the former left off: with late antiquity, covering a period from roughly the third to the thirteenth century. Here Sobin offers brilliant readings of late Roman and early Christian ruins in his adopted region of Provence, sifting through iconographic, architectural, and sacramental vestiges to shed light on nothing less than the existential itself.

Ladder of Shadows: Reflecting on Medieval Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

Bits of late Roman coinage, the mutilated torso of a marble Venus, blue debris from an early medieval glassworks, and the powder rasped from the reputed tomb of Mary Magdalene―these tantalizing mementos of human history found scattered throughout the landscape of southeastern France are the points of departure for Gustaf Sobin's lyrical narrative. A companion volume to his acclaimed Luminous Debris, Ladder of Shadows picks up where the former left off: with late antiquity, covering a period from roughly the third to the thirteenth century. Here Sobin offers brilliant readings of late Roman and early Christian ruins in his adopted region of Provence, sifting through iconographic, architectural, and sacramental vestiges to shed light on nothing less than the existential itself.

IGNATIEFF, Michael

Contemporary

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

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Books by Sobin, Gustaf

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sobin, Gustaf. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Venus Blue

In Pursuit of a Vanishing Star: A Novel

The Fly-Truffler: A Novel

The Fly-Truffler: A Novel

In Pursuit of a Vanishing Star: A Novel

Luminous Debris: Reflecting on Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

Luminous Debris: Reflecting on Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

Ladder of Shadows: Reflecting on Medieval Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

Ladder of Shadows: Reflecting on Medieval Vestige in Provence and Languedoc

Venus Blue