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Albert  Camus
[1913-1960]

portrait of Albert Camus [1913-1960] (sepia)         short profile

primary works
other works

works about Albert Camus

other media

friends & family

links


"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself."
— Albert Camus

"The big question [that] Camus asked was never the Anglo-American liberal one: How can we make the world
a little bit better tomorrow? It was the grander French one: Why not kill myself tonight?"
— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker Magazine critic

"Camus [is] helpful in times when what matters is not to give up, despite a future that seems hopeless;
not to resign, but to continue to resist." — Nobel-laureate Günter Grass

           Albert Camus was born 7 November 1913 in Algeria, where he became a journalist in 1938. He went to France in 1940 and worked for a brief time at the Paris-Soir newspaper, then went back to Algeria. His activities there resulted in exile as a 'threat to national security', so he returned to Paris and finished two books (published in 1942). During the Nazi Occupation, he worked for the resistance against the Nazis and became editor of the clandestine daily newspaper Combat in 1943.
           His most important works were published in France during and just after World War II. His 1951 essay "The Rebel" sparked major controversy, including a bitter split with Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-80]. Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. After reporting on Algeria's war for independence from France, he died in a freak automobile accident near Paris on 4 January 1960.

Albert Camus entry at Wikipedia
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957
Albert Camus credits [since 1959] on Internet Movie Database
browse the Albert Camus Store at Amazon



Primary  Works

BLUE CHECK: listed #82 on U.K. Telegraph Best 100  Novels (8/2014)  BLACK CHECK: listed on Amazon's '100 Books To Read In A Lifetime'  GOLD STAR: listed on Business Insider's The 35 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lifetime, 9/2013  "The Stranger {L'Etranger)" aka 'The Outsider'
existentialist fiction [Gallimard 1942]
The Stranger novel by Albert Camus  Translated by Matthew Ward in 1988
Kindle Edition from Vintage/Random House [8/2012] for $6.95
Vintage 8x5¼ pb [3/89] for $8.05
Everyman's Library 8½x5¼ hardcover [2/93] for $13.83
Knopf 8x5¼ hardcover [3/88] orig $20.68 - out of print/used
Recorded Books UNABR audio CD [5/2005] 3 disks out of prodn/used
French-language original:
Gallimard pb [3/2005] for $14.42
Folio mass pb [3/99] for $11.53

L'Etranger novel audio read by Albert Camus  "L'Etranger de Camus / Lu par Albert Camus"
April 1954 audio by Albert Camus

Ina/Frémeaux & Associés audio CD [4/2003]
orig $25.99 - out of prodn/used
The Stranger / Student Guide  "The Stranger: A Student Guide" [2004]
by Patrick McCarthy

Kindle Edition from Cambridge Univ Press [2004 edition] for $11.79
Cambridge Univ Press 7¾x5¼ pb [1/2004] for $20.39
Cambridge Univ Press 8x5 hardcover [1/2004] out of print/used
L'Etranger by Albert Camus audio book French-language edition  "L'Etranger" [2010] by Albert Camus, read by Michael Lonsdale
French & European Publns audio CD [7/2010] 3 disks for $80.96

"Lo Straniero" [1967 Italian feature film]
Directed by Luchino Visconti; starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Karina & Bernard Blier
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia

Meursault Investigation novel by Kamel Daoud  "The Meursault Investigation" short novel [2015]
by Kamel Daoud, Translated by John Cullen

"a mesmerizing sequel to Albert Camus's The Stranger"
Kindle Edition from Other Press [6/2015] for $8.97
Other Press 8½x5½ pb [6/2015] for $12.03

The Plague novel by Albert Camus  "The Plague" [June 1947] Translated by Stuart Gilbert
Kindle Edition from Random House Digital [8/2012] for $9.99
Vintage mass pb [5/91] for $7.22
Vintage 8x5 pb [5/91] for $9.36
French-language original "La Peste"
Gallimard mass pb [2/72] for $17.34
French & European Publns mass pb [1947] for $31.30
NTC/Contemporary mass pb [6/47] out of print/used

La Peste movie poster  1992 movie {aka "La Peste"}
Written & directed by Luis Puenzo; starring William Hurt,
Sandrine Bonnaire, Robert Duvall & Raul Julia
Garry's Trading Co. color DVD [2003] for $9.49
Artisan color VHS [10/94] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMdb
"The Plague" 9-minute short [1/2013] /tt2404826/

The Plague playscript by Neil Bartlett  "The Plague by Albert Camus" [2017]
adapted for the stage by Neil Bartlett

Oberon Books 7¾x5¼ hardcover [5/2017] out of print/SOLD OUT !

"Die Pest" [Germany May 2020] /tt12321440/


Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus  
"The Myth of Sisyphus" & Other Essays [1942]
Translated by Justin O'Brien

Vintage 8x5 pb [5/91] for $10.80
The Rebel by Albert Camus   "The Rebel: An Essay On Man In Revolt" [1951]
Vintage 8x5 pb [12/91] for $10.80
French original:
Gallimard 7x4¼ pb [6/98] for $10.36
The Fall novel by Albert Camus  "The Fall" [1956]
Translated by Justin O'Brien, edited by Erroll McDonald

Vintage 8x5 pb [5/91] for $9.00
French original:
French & European Publns pb [10/82] for $14.95
Livraphone cassette [2000] for €16,25 via Amazon France

Exile & The Kingdom stories by Albert Camus   "Exile & The Kingdom" [6 stories 1957]
contains "The Adulterous Woman", "The Growing Stone", "The Guest", "Jonas, or The Artist At Work", "The Renegade, or a Confused Spirit" & "The Silent Men"
Translation by Carol Cosman: Vintage 8x5¼ pb [2/2007] for $11.16
Edited by Erroll McDonald: Vintage 8x5 pb [11/91] for $11.01
Amereon hardcover [12/76] for $19.95
The Guest 1957 short story by Albert Camus  
"The Guest" [1957 short story]
Creative Co. pb [4/97] out of print/used
A Happy Death by Albert Camus  "A Happy Death" [1970]
Translated by Richard Howard

Vintage 8x5 pb [9/95] for $10.95


Other  Works
browse the Albert Camus Store {returns 120+ titles} at Amazon

Notebooks  &  Journals
Camus's Notebooks 1935-1942  
"Notebooks 1935-1942" [1962]
Translated by Philip Thody

Marlowe & Co. 8½x5½ pb [1/91] out of print/used
Random House hardcover [6/78] out of print/used
Camus's Notebooks 1942-1951  "Notebooks 1942-1951" [1964]
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich pb [1/78] out of print/used
Camus's Notebooks 1951-1959  "Notebooks 1951-1959" [Gallimard 1966]
French-language edition: Gallimard pb [4/86] used in USA
Camus's Notebooks 1935-1951  "Notebooks 1935-1951" [1998]
Marlowe & Co. 8x5½ pb [9/98] out of print/used
American Journals by Albert Camus  "American Journals" [1987]
Translation by Hugh Levick

Marlowe & Co. 8x5 pb [7/95] out of print/used
Paragon House 8½x6 hardcover [7/87] out of print/used

Essays  &  Posthumous  Works

"Letters To A German Friend" [1945]
French original: French & European Publns pb [10/91] for $10.95

"Neither Victims Nor Executioners: Essays From Combat" [1960]
Translated by Dwight MacDonald
World Without War Council pb [12/68] out of print/used

First Man novel by Albert Camus  "The First Man: An Autobiographical Novel" [incomplete 1960]
Translation by David Hapgood

The manuscript was found in the wreckage of the car in which Camus died
Vintage 8x5 pb [8/96] for $9.60
French original:
SODIS 7x4.3 pb [4/2000] for $10.36
Resistance, Rebellion & Death by Albert Camus  
"Resistance, Rebellion & Death: Essays" [1960]
Translation by Justin O'Brien

Vintage 8x5 pb [9/95] for $10.40
Lyrical & Critical Essays by Albert Camus  "Lyrical & Critical Essays" [1968]
Random House 7x4 pb [1/85] for $9.60
Youthful Writings by Albert Camus  "Youthful Writings" [1976]
Translation by Ellen Conroy Kennedy

Marlowe & Co. 8x5½ pb [4/94] for $10.36
Between Hell & Reason by Albert Camus  "Between Hell and Reason: Essays From The Resistance
Newspaper Combat, 1944-1947" [1991]

Translation by Alexandre De Gramont;
Foreward by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl
Wesleyan Univ Press 8½x5½ pb [8/91] for $17.95
Albert Camus at 'Combat'  "Camus At Combat: Writing 1944-1947" [2006]
Edited by Jacqueline Lévi-Valensi

Princeton Univ Press hardcover [2/2006] for $19.77

"Albert Camus: The Essential Writings" [1979]
Edited by Robert E. Meagher
Harper Colophon [1979] out of print/used

"The Complete Works of Albert Camus" in 9 volumes [1983]
not found on Amazon.com or B&N

Camus anthology from Everyman's Library   "The Plague, The Fall, Exile & The Kingdom, and Selected Essays"
[2004] by Albert Camus

with essays "The Myth of Sisyphus" & "Reflections On The Guillotine"
Everyman's Library 8x5½ hardcover [8/2004] for $16.50


Works  About  Albert  Camus

older Albert Camus portrait in color  
"Albert Camus and The Literature of Revolt"
[1960 classic] by John Cruickshank

Greenwood hardcover [9/78] for $56.99
Oxford Univ Press pb [1/78] out of print/used
"Camus" [1964] by Germaine Bree
Umi Research pb [6/97] for $89.60
Harcourt Brace [1964] out of print/used

"The Theatre of Albert Camus: A Critical Study" [1971]
by E. Freeman
Camelot/Methuen hardcover [1/71] out of print/used

"Camus: A Collection of Critical Essays" [1972]
Edited by Germaine Bree
Prentice Hall 9x6 pb [6/72] out of print/used

Albert Camus critique by Lev Braun  
"Witness of Decline: Albert Camus, Moralist of the Absurd"
[1973] by Lev Braun

Associated Univ Press hardcover [6/73] for $36.50

"The Spiritual Quest of Albert Camus" [1976]
by Richard H. Akeroyd
Portals Press 8¾x5¾ hardcover [6/76] out of print/used

Albert Camus bio by Herbert R. Lottman  "Albert Camus: A Biography" [1979]
by Herbert R. Lottman

Gingko Press 8½x4¾ pb [4/97] for $18.96
George Brazillier pb [3/81] out of print/used
Imperial Vision by Anthony Rizzuto  "Camus' Imperial Vision" [1981]
by Anthony Rizzuto

Southern Illinois Univ Press hardcover [7/81] for $18.00
Albert Camus critique by James W. Woelfel  "Albert Camus On The Sacred and The Secular (An Introduction To His Thought)" [1987] by James W. Woelfel
Univ Press of America pb [2/87] for $18.00
Univ Press of America hardcover [6/87] out of print/used
Albert Camus, Soleil et Ombre book by Roger Grenier  "Albert Camus: Soleil et Ombre - Une Biographie Intellectuelle" [1987]
by Roger Grenier

Gallimard mass pb [4/91] out of print/used
Gallimard 7¾x5½ pb [1987] out of print/used
Albert Camus critique by David Sprintzen  "Camus: A Critical Examination" [1988]
by David Sprintzen

Temple Univ Press 9x6 pb [2/91] for $26.95
Temple Univ Press hardcover [12/88] out of print/used
Albert Camus bio by Phillip H. Rhein  "Albert Camus" [1989]
by Phillip H. Rhein

Twayne 8¾x5¾ hardcover [9/89] for $33.00
Albert Camus critiques edited by Harold Bloom  "Albert Camus: Modern Critical Views" [1989]
Edited by literary critic Harold Bloom [1930-2019]

Chelsea House 9½x6 hardcover [4/2003] for $35.00
Chelsea House 9½x6½ hardcover [2/89] out of print/used
"Albert Camus" [1989] by Philip Thody
St. Martin hardcover [11/89] out of print/used

Albert Camus bio by Joseph McBride  
"Albert Camus: Philosopher & Literateur" [1992]
by Joseph McBride

St.Martin/Palgrave hardcover [10/92] for $35.00
Albert Camus YA bio by Stephen Eric Bronner  "Albert Camus: The Thinker, The Artist, The Man"
[1996] by Stephen Eric Bronner

Franklin Watts / Impact YA 9x6 pb [10/96] for $24.00
Albert Camus In New York   "Albert Camus In New York" [1997]
by Herbert R. Lottman

Gingko Press pb [3/97] for $4.95
Albert Camus bio by Olivier Todd  "Albert Camus: A Life" [1997]
by Olivier Todd, translated by Benjamin Ivry

Carroll & Graf 9x6 pb [4/2000] for $12.80
Knopf 9½x6¾ hardcover [12/97] for $21.00

Albert Camus & Dostoevsky   "Camus: The Challenge of Dostoevsky" [1998]
by Ray Davison

Univ of Exeter Press 9x5¾ pb [1/98] for $38.99
Univ of Exeter Press hardcover [1/98] for $85.00
Albert Camus Love & Sexuality  "Camus: Love & Sexuality" [1998]
by Anthony Rizzuto

Univ Press of FL 9.3x6.3 pb [6/98] for $49.95

"Camus's Rebellious Thought: Legacy of Lucidity" [1998]
by V. John Bachman
Talus Titles pb [9/98] for $12.95

Introducing Albert Camus   "Introducing Camus" [1998]
by David Zane Mairowitz & Alain Korkos

Icon/Totem 8¼x5½ pb [11/2007] for $11.01
Icon/Totem 8x5½ pb [9/98] out of print/used
Albert Camus bio by Stephen Eric Bronner  "Camus: Portrait of A Moralist" [1999]
by Stephen Eric Bronner

Univ Chicago Press 8x5¼ pb [10/2009] for $18.00
Univ MN Press 8½x5¼ pb [4/99] out of print/used
Univ MN Press 9x6 hardcover [4/99] out of print/used
Albert Camus & The Minister by Howard E. Mumma  "Albert Camus and The Minister" [2000]
by Howard E. Mumma

Paraclete Press 8x5½ pb [5/2000] for $11.18
Albert Camus bio by Catherine Savage Brosman  "Literary Masters: Albert Camus" [2000]
by Catherine Savage Brosman

Gale Group hardcover [11/2000] for $55.00
Camus & Sartre book by Ronald Aronson  "Camus and Sartre: The Story of A Friendship & The Quarrel That Ended It"
[2004] by Ronald Aronson

Univ Chicago Press 9¼x6¼ pb [5/2005] for $12.92
Univ Chicago Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [1/2004] for $32.50

see also Maison d'Être Bookstore's Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-80] Page

Rebellious Feminism by Elizabeth Ann Bartlett  "Rebellious Feminism: Camus's Ethic of Rebellion & Feminist Thought" [2004]
by Elizabeth Ann Bartlett

Palgrave Macmillan 8½x5¾ hardcover [1/2004] for $75.00
Sartre & Camus book by David Sprintzen & Adrian van den Hoven  "Sartre and Camus: A Historic Confrontation" [2004]
Edited & translated by David A. Sprintzen & Adrian van den Hoven

Humanity Books hardcover [3/2004] for $33.58

see also Maison d'Être Bookstore's Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-80] Page

Cambridge Companion To Camus book edited by Edward J. Hughes  "The Cambridge Companion To Camus" [2007]
Edited by Edward J. Hughes

Cambridge Univ Press 8¾x6 pb [5/2007] for $30.99
Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [5/2007] for $95.00
Albert Camus biography by David Sherman  "Camus" [2008] by David Sherman
Wiley-Blackwell 9x6 pb [10/2008] for $29.95
Wiley-Blackwell 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2008] for $71.22
Camus, A Romance book by Elizabeth Hawes  "Camus: A Romance" [2009]
by Elizabeth Hawes

Grove Press 8¼x5½ pb [6/2010] for $11.11
Grove Press 9x6 hardcover [7/2009] for $25.00
author's official website
Albert Camus biography by Robert Zaretsky   "Albert Camus: Elements of A Life" [2010]
by Robert Zaretsky

Kindle Edition from Cornell Univ Press [6/2011] for $14.72
Cornell Univ Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [1/2010] for $16.47
Albert Camus book edited by daughter Catherine Camus  "Albert Camus: Solitude and Solidarity" [2010]
Edited by {his daughter} Catherine Camus

Editions Olms English-language 13¼x11½ hardcover [4/2012] for $37.01
Michel Lafon French-language 13¼x11½ hardcover [10/2010] import/used
Michel Lafon 33.6x28.8cm hardcover [10/2010] for €38,45 via Amazon.FR
L'Ordre Libertaire book by Michel Onfray   "L'Ordre Libertaire: La Vie Philosophique d'Albert Camus (The Libertarian Order: The Philosophical Life of Albert Camus)" [2012]
by Michel Onfray

Kindle Edition from Flammarion [1/2012] for €14,99 via Amazon.FR
Editions Flammarion French-language pb [1/2012] for €21,38 via Amazon.FR
Boxer & The Goal Keeper / Sartre versus Camus book by Andy Martin  "The Boxer & The Goal Keeper: Sartre v. Camus" [2012]
by Andy Martin

"They Should Have Been A Dream Team. It Turned Into A Duel To The Death."
Simon & Schuster, Ltd. 7¾x5 pb [2/2013] out of print/used
Simon & Schuster, Ltd. 8½x5¼ hardcover [2012] out of print/used
Simon & Schuster U.K. hardcover [2012] out of print/used

"Albert Camus: 1913-1960 - Una Tragedia de La Felicidad" [indep 2012?]
Una Tragedia de La Felicidad documentary about Albert Camus  55-minute documentary film in French with Spanish subtitles; includes home movies of Albert Camus with his family • Produced by Max Armanet & Philippe Cazer; directed by Jean Daniel & Joël Calmettes; narration by Jean-Lois Trintignant • still not listed at IMDb (2017)
watch 8/2013 upload [55:01] online at YouTube


Stageplays,  Audio,  Other Media

Albert Camus credits [since 1959] on Internet Movie Database

"Caligula" [written 1938, performed 1945]

"The Misunderstanding (Le Malentendu)" [1944]

"The State of Siege (L' Etat de Siege)" [1948]

"The Just Assassins (Les Justes)" [1949]

Caligula & 3 other stageplays by Albert Camus  "Caligula" & Three Other Plays [1944-50]
Translated by Stuart Gilbert

includes "Caligula", "Misunderstanding" {aka "Cross
Purpose"}, "State of Siege", and "The Just Assassins"
Random House 7x4 pb [2/62] for $11.30
L'etranger audio  "L'Etranger de Camus / Lu par Albert Camus"
April 1954 reading by Albert Camus

Ina/Frémeaux & Associés audio CD [4/2003]
orig $25.99 - out of prodn/used

"Requiem For A Nun (Requiem pour une Nonne)" [1956 stageplay]
adapted from the William Faulkner novel

"The Possessed: A Play in Three Parts" [1959]
adapted from the Dostoevsky novel; translated by Justin O'Brien
Random House pb [3/64] out of print/used
Random House hardcover [6/60] out of print/used

Albert Camus Reading in French His Novels and Essays
Caedmon Audio 51138 [6/85] out of prodn/rare

"Lo Straniero" [1967 Italian feature film]
Directed by Luchino Visconti; starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Karina & Bernard Blier
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available; full credits at IMDb

La Peste poster  "The Plague" [1992 movie, aka 'La Peste']
Written & directed by Luis Puenzo; starring William
Hurt, Sandrine Bonnaire, Robert Duvall & Raul Julia
Garry's Trading Co. color DVD [2003] for $9.49
Artisan color VHS [10/94] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMdb

"Caligula" Hungarian-language movie [1996]
Written & directed by Sandor Nagy; credits from IMDb

"Le Premier Homme" [Italy 2011, France 2012?]
Written & directed by Gianni Amelio; based on the incomplete 1960 novel "The First Man"
by Albert Camus; won FIPRESCI Award at Toronto; credits at IMDb



Friends  &  Family

first wife Simone Hie Camus [], married 1934, separated 1936, divorced 1940

second wife Francine Faure Camus [], married December 1940, widowed 1960
twin daughters Catherine and Jean [b. September 1945]

lover Spanish-born actress Maria Casares [1922-96]


Camus-Related  Links
Albert Camus entry at Wikipedia
Albert Camus's 1957 Nobel Prize
Albert Camus credits [since 1959] on Internet Movie Database

Albert Camus Society of the U.K.
Sam Gallagher's Camus Pages
Katharena Eiermann's Camus Pages
C.S. Wyatt's Camus Page
Moonstruck Drama Bookstore's Camus Page

December 2011 'extreme sisyphus' cartoon from The New Yorker Magazine
in a new window



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