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Andrei Codrescu Casanova in Bohemia
Thorndike Press 2002-07 0786243880 / 9780786243884 Hardcover New
0786243880 0786243880 From Publishers Weekly Poet, novelist, essayist and much-admired NPR commentator Codrescu (The Blood Countess) offers a ribald history of the final years of the infamous satyr. The novel imagines Giacomo Casanova the son of an Italian actor, who began his career as a lifelong seducer of women when he was kicked out of the seminary for dallying with the nuns in the twilight of a lifetime flamboyantly checkered by peccadillo and achievement. Scarcely a year after escaping prison and still in his early 30s, he made and lost a fortune when he introduced the lottery in Paris. At the age of 60, under the nom de plume Chevalier de Seingalt, he assumes the post of librarian for Count Waldstein at Dux Castle in the kingdom of Bohemia. Arranged around an outline of European history from 1785 to the year of Casanova's death in 1798, his reminiscences evolve in a sequence of nightly visits by an intelligent, precocious and sexually agreeable maidservant, Laura Brock, and her younger protege, Libussa Moldau. Codrescu evokes (and takes liberties with) the historical events of the French Revolution and unblushingly drops the names of such icons as Franklin, Goethe, Mozart and Marie Antoinette into the mix. They are put to good, kinky use: Casanova so excites Laura with a story about an argument that he once had with Voltaire about poetry that she begins to lactate. Codrescu fans will enjoy this tongue-in-cheek patchwork of bawdy escapades. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal As in his earlier novel, The Blood Countess, Codrescu here brings to life a historical character, depicting Casanova the man, the myth, and his times. In the 1790s, Giacomo Casanova is an old man living at the castle of Count Waldstein at Dux near Prague and working as a cataloging librarian in the count's library. In conversations with a young woman servant he has befriended, he relates episodes from his past life as he finishes work on a fantasy novel titled Icosameron and begins writing his mammoth memoirs. Although Casanova is past his prime, sexual activity of various styles and combinations still seems to occur whenever he is around. Codrescu presents Casanova as representative of an old world order that is slipping away, as the ideas that gave rise to the American and French revolutions are radically changing the political, social, and cultural landscape of Europe. Though factually based, the novel also incorporates almost dreamlike meetings and philosophical discussions between Casanova and Goethe, Hegel, and even Sartre. Casanova is portrayed as a weakening but still forceful old man, full of warmth, humor, and intelligence. Very entertaining and well written, this novel is recommended for all libraries. Jim Coan, SUNY at Oneonta Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Price:
23.99 USD
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