American writer, musician, and academic (born 1966)
For the South African politician, see Tony Marais.
Anthony Marais (born 1966, Hollywood, California)[1] is an American writer, musician, and academic. His writing focuses on culture, alchemy and the tendency of people to follow delusions.[1]
Career
Marais was graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in anthropology, then continued his education in Canada at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, focusing on Polynesian archaeology, where he earned a master's degree in archaeology with a thesis on fortifications in Tonga.[2][1]
Marais studied language and art history in Paris and since 1995 has lived in Germany, during which time he began publishing novels and working as a screenwriter. He currently teaches English composition and creative writing at the Anglo-American University in Prague.[2][1]
During the 1980s Marais co-founded the Los Angeles pop music group The Squids. He played bass guitar for Chamorro artist Maria Yatar in 1991, and in 2008, he co-founded the corporate-punk group The Karmakazees.[citation needed]
Publications
Novels and screenplays
Marais, Anthony (2006). The Cure. Newport Beach, California: Balneum Books. ISBN0-9774792-0-X. The Cure describes a man's mental journey. Fleeing unusual troubles, the protagonist arrives in Wiesbaden, Germany. Here he develops an obsession with the town's healing springs leading to a surreal journey into the occult.[3]
Marais, Anthony; Marszewski, Jarek (2007). Plateau. Balneum Books. ISBN978-0977479245. Plateau, a screenplay co-written with Jarek Marszewski, is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who finds a dying man along the roadside near her small town. Into this situation stumbles a local womanizer and drunk. This unlikely pair find themselves helping one another against their will and ultimately secure their survival on the plateau.[4] In 2009 the screenplay was optioned by OPUS Film of Poland.[citation needed]
Marais, Anthony (2012). Insured Risk. Newport Beach, California: Balneum Books.[5]Insured Risk is a novel about a Californian family dealing with the revealed homosexuality of the husband/father in conjunction with his diagnosis of a fatal disease. While swindling insurance companies the protagonist develops the delusion that he is recovering, inciting his agent to hire a contract killer.[citation needed]
Other writings
Marais, Anthony (2000). The Xenophobe's Guide to the Californians. Xenophobe's Guides. London: Oval Books. ISBN1-902825-20-9. The Xenophobe’s Guide to the Californians is a "frank, irreverent, and funny"[6] guide to understanding the Californians which shows the quirks of personality that set them apart from the rest of the Americans.[7]
Marais, Anthony (2008). Delusionism. Newport Beach, California: Balneum Books. ISBN978-0-9774792-1-4. Delusionism is a collection of essays which take an irreverent look at life philosophy – in particular, the nature/nurture debate and art theory. Marais emphasizes the importance of the group in survival, claims that culture is born of delusion, and advocates a return to romanticism in art.[citation needed]
Marais, Anthony; Frankfurt Writers Group (2009). A Place Between Worlds. Schwalbach, Germany: Fairmount Publishing. ISBN978-3-940280-04-6. A collection of essays, fiction, and poetry, bound by the city and the shared experience of emigration – impressions dealing with the adventure, loss, and the enrichment of cultural change.[8]
Marais, Anthony; The Frankfurt Writer's Group (2012). Loose Change. Limerick, Ireland: RealTime Publishing. ISBN978-1849611794. The short stories and reflections in this compilation are all loosely connected with change, whether geographical or emotional.[9]
