February, 2025
Confessions D’Un Loser Et Autre Romans (Editions La Croisee) has been a hit across the board in France. Here are what the reviews say:
“…an essential book…”
— Rolling Stone France
“A delightful tome of cult novels…[from]…a writing guerilla…Absolutely indispensable….”
– Focus VIF (Belgium)
“For ages, France has been infatuated with more or less magnificent losers, writers or musicians, whom the United States ignores. In this realm, Mark SaFranko seems to have no rival.”
– Telerama (France)
“It’s raw, it’s funny, there’s rage in these 700 pages, as well as a big chunk of humanity.”
– Corse-Matin (Corsica)
“If you have skimmed the entire…Bukowski collection with delight and are lacking new stories to sink your teeth into…the Max Zajack cycle is for you. We really feel like we are witnessing the resurrection of Hank Chinaski, Bukowski’s alter ego, as their worlds are so close…SaFranko has no reason to be ashamed of the comparison with his elder: creating fascination from stories of small jobs and failed love affairs is far from being given to everyone. The author…does this wonderfully…demonstrating a sentimentality that makes him prodigiously touching. Whether he’s talking about his childhood or his great failed love, the writer hits the mark.”
— Slate Magazine (France)
“Always going against the grain, our antihero plays…the role that developers have in chemistry: his simple presence in this country tells us what American society is trying to hide…”
— Marianne (France)
“…caustic, touching, strong and rough writing…If Kerouac had gratified us with his heavenly bums, SaFranko is throwing his sublime losers at us.”
– Maison Des Feuilies (France)
“I found in this author what I like in writers like John Fante or Bukowski.”
– Froggy’s Delight (France)
“…a beautiful quadrilogy built around the character of Max Zajack, a sort of literary clone of the author from New Jersey…we can easily compare SaFranko to John Fante or Bukowski…Worship!”
— Nyctalopes (France)
“A marvel of self-mockery. We think of John Fante, Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller or more recently Arthur Nersesian…”
– Le Courrier (Switzerland)
“These Confessions of a Loser are not a volume of the “Pleiade”, but, in an alternative world, they would deserve it…
— Page Des Libraires
“Mark SaFranko writes about daily life in the style of dirty realism that has made, and still makes, the heyday of US literature.”
— The Killer Inside Me (France)
“Mark SaFranko will one day be remembered as one of the greatest American writers of the early 21st century….” 3:AM MAGAZINE
June 15th – Another review of “Nowhere near Hollywood” in the bmlog Black Roses For Me : “The latest volume in the adventures of Max Zajack, Anything But Hollywood picks up the life of Safranko’s alter ego where he left off, which is to say, almost nowhere. The egocentric misanthrope hasn’t changed much, and we are grateful to his creator for this, as diving back into his troubles is a pure joy.”
June 15th – Une nouvelle critique de “Tout sauf Hollywood” dans le blog Black Roses For Me : “Dernier volume des aventures de Max Zajack, Nulle part près d’Hollywood reprend la vie de l’alter ego de Safranko là où il s’est arrêté, c’est-à-dire presque nulle part. Le misanthrope égocentrique n’a pas beaucoup changé, et on en est reconnaissant à son créateur, car replonger dans ses déboires est un pur bonheur.”
June 11th 2022 – Superbe article de Jacques LINDECKER dans « L’Alscace » – Max Zajack, le double de fiction de Mark SaFranko, voudrait être reconnu comme écrivain, mais personne ne veut le publier. Alors, va pour les petits boulots dans le monde du spectacle. Une pépite tragi-comique, entre humiliations et lueurs d’espoirs, révélée par l’éditeur mulhousien Médiapop. https://www.lalsace.fr/culture-loisirs/2022/06/10/l-etoffe-d-un-loser
June 11th – Superb article by Jacques LINDECKER in « L’Alscace » – Max Zajack, Mark SaFranko’s fictional double, would like to be recognized as a writer, but nobody wants to publish him. So, go for the odd job in the entertainment world. A tragic-comic nugget, between humiliations and glimmers of hope, revealed by the mulhousian publisher Médiapop. https://www.lalsace.fr/culture-loisirs/2022/06/10/l-etoffe-d-un-loser
Un auteur américain en résidence avec l’Université de Lorraine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0-hEglePvc
Interviews: http://www.marksafranko.com/newsletter.htm
Reviews and critical assessment: http://www.marksafranko.com/disc.htm
Interviews
Kelly Scott-Reed. Kellie sits down for a chat with writer, playwright, musician, artist, actor Mark SaFranko about how varied experience shapes writing, and what it’s like to be “big in Japan” and Europe in general! https://youtu.be/fRa-uui5-GE, 25 April 2023
Balek, Jeff. “Interview : Mark SaFranko et le digital,” Yumington Project, 27 juin 2011.
Brodsky, Steven. “A Conversation with author Mark SaFranko,” delcoculturevultures.com, 4 octobre 2017.
De Bourmont, Martin. “No Future: An Interview with Mark SaFranko,” 3 am Magazine, janvier 2016.
Kudera, Alex. “Interview with Mark SaFranko,” When Falls the Coliseum, 19 octobre 2010.
Norton, Justin. “Vocation of Unhappiness: The Decibel Interview with Mark SaFranko,” Decibel, 14 janvier 2015.
“Rencontre avec Mark SaFranko,” Diversions, 3 novembre 2017.
Rice, Jason. “Interview with Mark SaFranko,” 3G1B – Three Guys One Book, 8 novembre 2010.
SaFranko, Mark. “J’aurais toujours Paris,” Un dernier livre avant la fin du monde, 30 mai 2014.
Articles in English
Brownsword, Christopher. “Review: The Suicide by Mark SaFranko,” The Bailer, 9 octobre 2018.
Duerre Human, Heather. “Detecting Gender in Mark SaFranko’s The Suicide,” Gender Bending Detective Fiction — A Critical Analysis of Selected Works, MacFarland and Co., 2017, pp. 115-132.
Fountain, Renee C. Review of Hating Olivia: A Love Story, New York Journal of Books, 2010.
Fountain, Renee C. Review of No Strings, New York Journal of Books, 2012.
Kopp, Zach. “Blossoms and Blood,” Rain Taxi, printemps 2018.
Millar, Sam. Review of The Suicide, New York Journal of Books, 2014.
Mills, John M. “No Strings: A Book Review,” New York Journal of Books, 2014.
Ridgwell, Joseph. “A Genius Overdue for Recognition.” The Guardian, 19 septembre 2007. https://www.theguardian.com/profile/marksafranko
Articles en francais
From Richmond to Tacoma – “Tout sauf Hollywood” – Avril 2022
“Dieu bénisse l’Amérique – Mark SaFranko,” Froggy’s Delight, mai 2012.
Di Falco Salvatore. Préface à Dieu Bénisse l’Amérique de Mark SaFranko, 13è Note Editions, 2011.
Fante, Dan. Préface à Confessions d’un loser de Mark SaFranko, 13e Note Editions, 2010.
Laferrère, Franck-Olivier. “BookExpo America 2013 : Chronique (4) – Mark SaFranko et moi,” Salon littéraire l’Internaute, 11 juillet 2013.
Lennart, Tara. “Petit précis littéraire : Mark SaFranko,” Diacritik, 7 janvier 2016.
“Mark SaFranko : le cauchemar américain,” NLTO, 2017, également publié sur Bookalicious, 18 avril 2017.
Muller, Alexandre. “Travaux forcés : Mark SaFranko,” La Cause littéraire, 19 avril 2013.
Ted. “Mark SaFranko : Incident sur la 10e avenue,” Un dernier livre avant la fin du monde, 5 février 2016.
“Travaux forcés – Mark SaFranko,” Froggy’s Delight, janvier 2013.