Engraved in Flesh: Piotr Rawicz and His Novel Blood from the Sky

Cultural Writing. Appearing in a revised edition ten years after its first publication, Anthony Rudolf’s ENGRAVED IN FLESH remains the first book in any language on the work and life of Piotr Rawicz, the author of one wantonly brilliant novel, in the phrase of Irving Howe. Angus Wilson is quoted on the cover of the original UK translation (1964) of Blood From the Sky as finding it fierce in its impact … and often horrifyingly funny. Rudolf campaigned long and hard to rescue the book from virtual oblivion outside France; even in the author’s adopted France, after critical acclaim and the Prix Rivarol, the novel has not received the attention it deserves. In 2003, forty years after BLOOD FROM THE SKY first appeared in English, Yale University Press reissued the unrevised original translation. The following year, Elliot and Thompson republished the book in the UK in the revised translation by Anthony Rudolf. ENGRAVED IN FLESH is the forth of five short studies by Anthony Rudolf in a continuing series devoted to literature and extreme situations.