Navigate to News section

The Words of Jerzy Kosinski

Today on Tablet, Sam Kerbel on the writer and survivor’s legacy

by
Unknown Author
December 04, 2012
(Kiki Kosinski)
(Kiki Kosinski)

Today on Tablet, Sam Kerbel takes a look at the work of Jerzy Kosinski, who was a lightning rod for criticism and confusion alike.

Few legacies remain as mythic in scope and precarious in esteem as Kosinski’s. A Holocaust survivor living under various fake identities, he immigrated to the United States in 1957 and held odd jobs, like chauffeuring a Harlem drug king, until he married a wealthy steel heiress whom he later divorced. He was an actor, socialite, playboy, academic, and most notably an award-winning writer of books such as The Painted Bird (1965), Steps (1968), and Being There (1971), the last of which was adapted into an Academy Award- and BAFTA-winning film starring Peter Sellers and written by Kosinski himself.

A newly released collection of interviews and talks by Kosinski provide some valuable insight. Kerbel explains here.

These articles are not currently attributed to anyone. We’re working on it!