Portland Public Library

Pagan light, dreams of freedom and beauty in Capri, Jamie James

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsplatesmaps

index present

non fiction

Pagan light

bibliography

1057730921

Jamie James

dreams of freedom and beauty in Capri

"A history of the artists and renegades who found refuge on the island of Capri"--, Provided by publisher"The isolated and arrestingly beautiful island of Capri has long been a refuge for renegade artists, writers, and political figures fleeing the confines of conventional society. From the time of Augustus, who bought the island in 29 B.C. after defeating Antony and Cleopatra, to the early twentieth century, when the poet and novelist Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was exiled there after being charged with corrupting minors, and later, when Audrey Hepburn was pattering through town in capri pants, the island's history is rich and full of intrigue. The first book of its kind, Jamie James's sweeping Pagan Light is a fascinating portrait of the foreigners who have found home on the storied island for more than two thousand years. We encounter the Roman emperor Tiberius, who conducted an extended orgy on the island for the last eleven years of his life; Maxim Gorky, who lived on Capri after being banished by the tsarist regime; and the legendary American painter Romaine Brooks, who moved her studio to Capri and broke hearts, male and female. We also meet figures as varied as the Marquis de Sade, Goethe, Pablo Neruda, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Compton Mackenzie, and Rilke, among others. Grounded in a deep intimacy with Capri and full of captivating anecdotes about some of history's most notable eccentrics, Pagan Light tells the story of a tiny island that has served as a wildly permissive haven for people--queer, criminal, sick, marginalized, and simply crazy--who have nowhere else to go."--Jacket

Map -- Pagan light -- Notes and bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Dreams of freedom and beauty in Capri