French Lessons
Napoleon’s Deluge in France, Coelho in Teheran, and Italy’s Wayward Professor
A fiendishly degenerate account of a dead academic leads off in France this month, as the pseudonymous author San Antonio (the late Frédéric Dard) tramples all cultural propriety in his delirious novel Napoléon Pommier. Here’s the pitch: The august Professor Titan Ma Gloire is found “more or less murdered” after he had subcontracted out his great tome on Napoleon. Shortly thereafter, a perverse cast of characters assembles on the scene, including women disguised as Josephine de Beauharnais, an army of gay mechanics, and a nymphomaniac female cop by the name of Marie Bizarre. Fortunately, gumshoe San Antonio is on the case, accompanied by faithful basset hound Salami, who happens to speak French. The book wreaks havoc with Napoleonic history, among other things, and as far as we can tell, the title refers to Napoleon IV and his taste for Calvados. Dard, who died at age 78 on June 6, wrote his first San Antonio book in 1949, and went on to publish over 150 detective novels in the series. Widely admired for his Rabelaisian ingenuity (his obituary noted that Dard used over 200 different words for the male sexual anatomy), Dard was praised by President Jacques Chirac as one of the “magicians” of the French language.
Elsewhere in France, The Education of a Fairy is Goncourt-winning Didier van Cauwelaert’s novel about a chap who falls in love with a young woman he meets on a plane, and proceeds to settle in with her and her young son. Unfortunately, his new wife up and leaves him, but peace and love are restored after the unlikely intervention of a Baghdad-born supermarket cashier and a liberal dose of fairy dust. Van Cauwelaert won the Goncourt in 1994 for The Easy Way, which sold a million copies. Though not currently on the list, the new book is said to have made a strong showing in France (“It goes down like candy and it’ll make a great movie,” according to one reviewer). See Albin Michel for rights.
Meanwhile, Spain has embarked upon a journey to The Corners of the Air, said to be a disquieting blend of fiction and biography built around the life of the Barcelona-born Ana Maria Martinez Sagi, who passed away last year. A poet, journalist, and elite athlete, Martinez Sagi was a national javelin champion and a pioneering feminist who co-founded the Womens’ Sports Club, the first popular feminist organization of its kind in Spain. The book circles around Martinez Sagi’s reputed homosexuality, and even casts doubt on the reality of her existence. Author Juan Manuel de Prada, said to be “a brilliant and subtle writer in the early stages of his career,” has published two books of short stories and three novels, the last of which, Tempest, was published in the UK by Sceptre (he has never been published in the US). Foreign rights have gone to France (Seuil), Italy (Ediziones E-O), and Germany (Klett-Cotta); see agent Mònica Martin of MB Agencia Literaria.
This just in from Tehran: Following Paulo Coelho’s recent visit to Iran, we’re told the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has declared Caravan Books Coelho’s official publisher in that nation, thereby putting an end to a frenzied trade in pirated editions of the author’s work. Millions of Coelho’s books have apparently been sold in Iran, but because the country did not sign the International Copyright Agreement, no “official” edition had been published there. (Our HarperCollins source assures us, however, that rights to Coelho’s work can indeed be licensed to Iran.) For what it’s worth, Coelho is said to be the first non-Muslim writer to have officially visited Iran since 1979, due to President Mohammad Kathami’s efforts toward cultural exchange in this country of 71 million people.
In Italy, Vanilla & Chocolate is the 14th novel from bestselling Italian author Sveva Casati Modignani. The book concerns Penelope and Andrea, perfect opposites who once enjoyed matrimonial bliss. That perfect swirl of gelato, however, has soured considerably after 18 years of marriage, and Penelope leaves husband Andrea for a much-needed breather. All is reconciled when the pair reaffirm their vows over a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (or something like that). Modignani has been published in Germany, France, Poland, Portugal, Russia, among other lands. See Stefania De Pasquale at Sperling & Kupfer for rights.
On a less conciliatory note in Italy, Luciano de Crescenzo’s The Distraction finds the bestselling author returning to philosophical grounds, with a decidedly non-Platonic twist. The 70-year-old hero, Professor Bellavista, prattles about philosophy to a group of teenagers. During his disquisitions on the likes of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Popper, however, the maestro takes a shine to young pupil Jessika, and a “short but dangerous” physical relationship ensues. De Crescenzo’s recent works include The Odyssey, which sold more than 200,000 copies in hardcover, with rights sold to Germany, Spain, Japan, and Korea. Thus far, rights to the new one have gone to Bertelsmann in Germany, amid much interest from abroad. See Chiara Ferrari at Grandi & Associati.
Cornelis Vreeswijk’s Writings clocks in at #3 in Sweden, with an eclectic assemblage of song lyrics, short stories, and poetry from one of Sweden’s most beloved singer/songwriters. Born in Holland in 1937, Vreeswijk moved to Sweden at age 14 and eventually became a sort of Dylan of the North. The book, edited by acclaimed Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold, focuses on Vreeswijk as a writer and not necessarily a singer, and includes Vreeswijk’s interpretations of e.e. cummings, Victor Jara, and The Beatles, among others. Our source at Ordfront notes that the author sang the stories of “all kinds of people — prostitutes, alcoholics, politicians, and the women he loved.” Er, right. See Ordfront’s Elin Sennero.
Finally, The Happy Housewife has been cheering most of Holland this month. Written by magazine journalist Heleen van Royen, the book is said to be “an irreverently comic yet highly moving debut novel” about a blithe young woman’s nervous breakdown after the birth of her first child. The happiness part comes during her trip back to sanity. Rights have been sold to Germany (Rowohlt, on a six-figure advance pre-empt at the 2000 LBF), the UK (Virago), France (Albin Michel), Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand), and Norway (Gyldendal Norsk, in a three-way auction that resulted in a five-figure advance). Submissions to US publishers are expected in Fall 2000 from Linda Michaels.
