title: Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide
author: Patrick Alexander
description: Patrick Alexander: Fascinated by nineteenth-century French literature throughout his life but unable to understand the appeal of Marcel Proust, Patrick Alexander finally had his epiphany in 1989. Forced by circumstance to read Swanns Way, he has been an obsessive Proustian ever since, and has read the novel several times. In 2006, he retired from a position as Director at the University of Miami to devote himself to the study of Proust. Other writings include a novel "Catching Up", a screenplay "The Nigerian Letter", and a book of essays "Recollections of a Racketeer".
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  > > Patrick Alexander
  
    
  
  > >  _Marcel Proust’s Search for Lost Time_
  
    
  
  > > After graduating with a degree in literature from Sussex University in
  > England, Patrick Alexander moved to France in the early 1970s, where he
  > raised a family and embarked on a lifelong love affair with French
  > literature. Throughout a professional career as an international corporate
  > executive traveling all over the world, Alexander’s fascination with the
  > works of Marcel Proust continued to grow. While a director at the University
  > of Miami from 2001 to 2007, he organized a Proustian reading group, and he
  > continues to be a regular contributor to an international Proustian forum.
  > Alexander retired from the university in 2007 in order to work full-time on
  > _Marcel Proust’s Search for Lost Time_.
  
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   _To Peggy, Bridie, and Emma_  
   _For always making me proud and happy_
  
   **Contents**
  
  > > _Introduc