{"product_id":"fassbinder-thousands-of-mirrors-by-ian-penman","title":"'Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors' by Ian Penman","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"qMYqUG_convSearchResultHighlightRoot\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a13ebf1-e3bc-83ec-8e04-eb5854921a4e-33\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-6a13ebf1-e3bc-83ec-8e04-eb5854921a4e-33\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-6a13ebf1-e3bc-83ec-8e04-eb5854921a4e-33\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-198\" data-scroll-anchor=\"false\" data-turn=\"assistant\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"8496f5fd-c813-4c0d-b1e9-1980cea9081e\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5-thinking\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full dark markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003ch4 data-start=\"417\" data-end=\"818\"\u003eRainer Werner Fassbinder made films like someone trying to outrun his own nervous system.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"417\" data-end=\"818\"\u003eAcross an absurdly compressed life, he became one of the central figures of New German Cinema, producing a body of work that moved through melodrama, cruelty, beauty, addiction, politics, sex, performance, class, loneliness and postwar Germany’s very bad habit of pretending the past had politely left the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"820\" data-end=\"1339\"\u003eIan Penman’s \u003cem data-start=\"833\" data-end=\"867\"\u003eFassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors\u003c\/em\u003e is not a neat biography and would be worse if it were. It moves in fragments, reflections, digressions and sharp little turns: part film criticism, part self-portrait, part drug memoir, part cold war atmosphere, part love letter with its teeth still in. Penman writes about Fassbinder as a filmmaker, myth, worker, destroyer, symptom and mirror, but also about what it means to be young, watching films, inventing a self from scraps, scenes, poses and private obsessions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1341\" data-end=\"1680\"\u003eThis is cult criticism in the proper sense: not fandom, not summary, not polite cultural homework, but an attempt to think through why certain artists get lodged in the machinery of a life. For readers of Maggie Nelson, Chris Kraus, Mark Fisher, Wayne Koestenbaum, McKenzie Wark, or anyone who wants criticism that still has weather in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1702\" data-end=\"1989\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFitzcarraldo Editions paperback, first published in Great Britain in 2023. Minor marks and light shelf wear to the white cover, because Fitzcarraldo covers appear to have been designed by someone who enjoys punishing booksellers\/tote bag owners. Internally clean, binding sound.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44802258010195,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Yourparagraphtext-2026-05-29T183440.286.png?v=1780043758","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/fassbinder-thousands-of-mirrors-by-ian-penman","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}