On the High Wire

21 June 2019

Territory Rights — Worldwide including Canada, but excluding the British Commonwealth.

Philippe Petit (Author), Paul Auster (Translator, With an Introduction by)

Description

On the High Wire is fascinating to read. You will learn about the man, his work, his passion, his tenacity and lucidity” (Marcel Marceau)

In this poetic handbook, written when he was just twenty-three, the world-famous high-wire artist Philippe Petit offers a window into the world of his craft. Petit masterfully explains how preparation and self-control contributed to such feats as walking between the towers of Notre Dame and the World Trade Center. Addressing such topics as the rigging of the wire, the walker’s first steps, his salute and exercises, and the work of other renowned high-wire artists, Petit offers us a book about the ecstasy of conquering our fears and reaching for the stars.

Reviews

"In the hand it feels like a guidebook and reads like a dream diary. The book is both of those things." — Michigan Quarterly Review

"What most recommends On the High Wire is the voice of its author. Petit’s style, true to his title of the Magician of High Altitudes, captivates." — Zach Davidson, The Brooklyn Rail

"What sets Philippe in a class all his own is his restless quest to conquer the greatest physical heights, achieving a precise balance of chaos and creativity. He is an inspiration." — Mikhail Baryshnikov

"Philippe Petit is an artist whose theater is the sky." — Robin Williams

"This is a book of instructions to those who will dare one day the impossible. It shows the art to fill and illuminate the Void, a void between two towers, two edges of a ravine, or two planets, or the space between heart and mind. A wire connects what would have been separated in loneliness forever. I salute you, Philippe, the Fragile Man of the Wire, the Emperor of the air. Like Fitzcarraldo you are one of the ever so rare and wondrous men: a Conquistador of the Useless. I bow my head in reverence." — Werner Herzog

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Also By: Paul Auster View all by author...

  • White Spaces: Selected Poems and Early Prose

    Paul Auster

    E Book, 2020

    “Magnificent poetry; dark, severe, even harsh—yet pulsating with life.” —John Ashbery
  • White Spaces: Selected Poems and Early Prose

    Paul Auster

    Paperback, 2020

    “Magnificent poetry; dark, severe, even harsh—yet pulsating with life.” —John Ashbery
  • The Red Notebook: True Stories

    Paul Auster

    E Book, 2012

    The Red Notebook brings together in one volume all of Paul Auster's short, true-life stories—a remarkable collection of tales that documents the curious, miraculous, and sometimes catastrophic...
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Paperback

9780811228640

114 x 185 mm • 128 pages

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Ebook

9780811228657

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