Valentin Louis Georges EugÃ ne Marcel Proust ( French pronounced : maÊ sÉ l pÊ ust ) ( July 10 , 1871 â `` November 18 , 1922 ) was a French novelist , essayist and critic , best known as the author of Ã la recherche du temps perdu ( in English , In Search of Lost Time ) , a monumental work of twentieth-century fiction published in seven parts from 1913 to 1927 . Valentin Louis Georges EugÃ ne Marcel Proust ( ; 10 July 1871 â `` 18 November 1922 ) was a French novelist , critic , and essayist best known for his monumental Ã la recherche du temps perdu ( In Search of Lost Time ; earlier translated as Remembrance of Things Past ) . It was published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927 .