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Paul Weidner
Dear Librarian, Everyone’s notion of the baroque, theatrical Versailles of Louis XIV is of a high point in European civilization. But I’m fascinated by the darker, seamier side – the rough politics, the sex, the scandals – even the occult. And I thought: what if some small, innocent creature got caught in the tangles of that huge and not-at-all innocent world? And suppose he maneuvered his way into its innermost circles – to Louis himself, his mistresses, the political giants of the day? Which is what my unsuspecting dwarf does – along the way unearthing his true identity – a bombshell revelation that threatens the foundations of the French monarchy. All this is not without its comic angle. The hero’s escapades – from underneath card tables – helping gamblers cheat puts him within earshot of some wickedly funny court gossip. And the cast includes some ridiculously extravagant players. “Brilliant irony and dark humor of the sort Mark Twain achieved,” one reviewer wrote. Thank you, Paul Weidner www.ralphmag.org/DD/dwarf.html
Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King’s Court / Paul Weidner / University of Wisconsin Press / Hardcover; 346 Pages
Price: $24.95 / ISBN: 978-0299205102 / Published: September, 2004 Paul Weidner is one of our featured authors this week. Click here to view his reader comments and feel free to use them in your newsletters. |