On Chris Kraus's "Aliens & Anorexia"
Chris Kraus's second novel, Aliens & Anorexia, has just been reissued by Semiotext(e). In his new introduction, Palle Yourgrau explores the novel's key themes—battlefields, bodies, transcendence—and follows the book on its journey to rescue Simon Weil from enemy territory.
I thought he was a genius, i.e. we hated many of the same people.” — Chris Kraus, Aliens & Anorexia
For many years, I imagined aliens landing nearby and extending an offer to go home with them, where I belong. I still do. I would scarcely miss this so-called world which, having failed to notice my existence, would little note my absence. Many people, I suspect, have had such feelings. So many, in fact, that one begins to wonder if this world of ours has already been populated by aliens. What happened to all the earthlings? To feel at home in this desperate world of ours is the surest sign that