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内容简介

　　In France, on the eve of the Revolution, a young man named Claude Page sets out to become the most ingenious and daring inventor of his time. In the course of a career filled with violence and passion, Claude learns the arts of enameling and watchmaking from an irascible, defrocked abb, apprentices himself to a pornographic bookseller, and applies his erotic erudition to the seduction of the wife of an impotent wigmaker. But it is Claude's greatest device-a talking mechanical head-that both crowns his career and leads to an execution as tragic as that of Marie Antoinette, and far more bizarre. Hailed by critics for the shimmering brilliance of its inventions and its uncanny fidelity to the textures of the past, A Case of Curiosities places Allen Kurzweil securely in the ranks of the finest literary artists of our time.

作者简介

　　Allen Kurzweil was named a "Best Young American Novelist" by Granta for A Case of Curiosities, his first novel. He has been the recipient of Guggenheim and Fullbright Fellowships, and a 1999 Fellow of the New York Public Library for Scholars and Writers. He has completed his second book, The Grand Complication. His fiction has been honored in the United States, France, Italy, and Ireland. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

媒体评论

　　PRAISE FOR A CASE OF CURIOSITIES "What John Fowles did for the19th century with The French Lieutenant's Woman and Umberto Eco didfor the 14th with The Name of the Rose . . . Kurzweil now does forthe late 18th century with A Case of Curiosities. [A] captivatingnovel." (San Francisco Chronicle )"Brilliantly playful . . . Morelike a joint effort by Henry Fielding and John Barth, it is cleverindeed but also riotous, melodramatic and erotic, full of lore andlewdness and crackling with ideas and exhilarated imagination."(Chicago Tribune )The imaginative story spun here by first novelistKurzweil is in itself a curious melange: a portrait of a youngmechanical genius, a gallimaufry of odd and intriguing facts, and arich, lusty picture of late 18th-century French society. A kindly,heretical abbe recognizes country lad Claude Page's skill fordrawing. Under his mentor's tutelege, Claude discovers capacitiesfor scientific inquiry, watchmaking and painting erotic scenes inminiature. But his genius is denied expression when he impulsivelyruns away to Paris and apprentices to a loathsome bookseller anddealer in pornography. The events that lead to the blossoming ofClaude's talents are related by Kurzweil in leisurely proseanimated by irony, humor and aphoristic asides. Nuggets of arcaneknowledge are neatly interpolated into the story, and there arewhimsical facts, too; we learn, for example, that kurzweil means"pastime" in German. The author is most successful, however, increating a gallery of memorable, Dickensian characters. The bawdyinhabitants of Paris's fetid slums are depicted with affection, incontrast to the hypocritical, pretentious members of the upperclass, who are unaware that the Revolution lurks around the corner.Though Claude's most brilliant invention, the "Talking Turk," fallsvictim to that cataclysm, he leaves to posterity a "case ofcuriosities": a construction called a momentum hominum , "thechronicle of a life. " In this diverting novel, his inventor doesthe same. BOMC and QPB selections; major ad/promo. --(PublishersWeekly )The narrator buys a box of randomly assembled objects at aParis auction. It is a life box, the memento hominem of ClaudePage, an extraordinarily gifted 18th-century French clockmaker witha passion for the mechanical and a great zest for life. As a youngman, he is taken in by a God-hating abbe who employs him to paintnaughty scenes, with moving parts, on the faces of watches andclocks. "The tree of knowledge is there for us to climb," counselshis mentor. "Climb it. Ignore the fences. Swing from branch tobranch . . . . You, Claude, are a discoverer." In Paris, later,Claude struggles to construct a fabulous talking automaton, withwhich he hopes to earn his fortune. But fortune has a differentplan for Claude. The eccentrics and bohemians who touch Claude'slife are one and all grotesques of compelling interest and comicforce. Kurzweil tells a real story; it is funny, human, andexciting all at once. Highly recommended for general collections.BOMC and Quality Paperback selections; previewed in Prepub Alert,LJ 9/1/91.

<p>　　PRAISE FOR A CASE OF CURIOSITIES "What John Fowles did for the
19th century with The French Lieutenant's Woman and Umberto Eco did
for the 14th with The Name of the Rose . . . Kurzweil now does for
the late 18th century with A Case of Curiosities. [A] captivating
novel." (San Francisco Chronicle )"Brilliantly playful . . . More
like a joint effort by Henry Fielding and John Barth, it is clever
indeed but also riotous, melodramatic and erotic, full of lore and
lewdness and crackling with ideas and exhilarated imagination."
(Chicago Tribune )The imaginative story spun here by first novelist
Kurzweil is in itself a curious melange: a portrait of a young
mechanical genius, a gallimaufry of odd and intriguing facts, and a
rich, lusty picture of late 18th-century French society. A kindly,
heretical abbe recognizes country lad Claude Page's skill for
drawing. Under his mentor's tutelege, Claude discovers capacities
for scientific inquiry, watchmaking and painting erotic scenes in
miniature. But his genius is denied expression when he impulsively
runs away to Paris and apprentices to a loathsome bookseller and
dealer in pornography. The events that lead to the blossoming of
Claude's talents are related by Kurzweil in leisurely prose
animated by irony, humor and aphoristic asides. Nuggets of arcane
knowledge are neatly interpolated into the story, and there are
whimsical facts, too; we learn, for example, that kurzweil means
"pastime" in German. The author is most successful, however, in
creating a gallery of memorable, Dickensian characters. The bawdy
inhabitants of Paris's fetid slums are depicted with affection, in
contrast to the hypocritical, pretentious members of the upper
class, who are unaware that the Revolution lurks around the corner.
Though Claude's most brilliant invention, the "Talking Turk," falls
victim to that cataclysm, he leaves to posterity a "case of
curiosities": a construction called a momentum hominum , "the
chronicle of a life. " In this diverting novel, his inventor does
the same. BOMC and QPB selections; major ad/promo. --(Publishers
Weekly )The narrator buys a box of randomly assembled objects at a
Paris auction. It is a life box, the memento hominem of Claude
Page, an extraordinarily gifted 18th-century French clockmaker with
a passion for the mechanical and a great zest for life. As a young
man, he is taken in by a God-hating abbe who employs him to paint
naughty scenes, with moving parts, on the faces of watches and
clocks. "The tree of knowledge is there for us to climb," counsels
his mentor. "Climb it. Ignore the fences. Swing from branch to
branch . . . . You, Claude, are a discoverer." In Paris, later,
Claude struggles to construct a fabulous talking automaton, with
which he hopes to earn his fortune. But fortune has a different
plan for Claude. The eccentrics and bohemians who touch Claude's
life are one and all grotesques of compelling interest and comic
force. Kurzweil tells a real story; it is funny, human, and
exciting all at once. Highly recommended for general collections.
BOMC and Quality Paperback selections; previewed in Prepub Alert,
LJ 9/1/91.<br />
　　- David Keymer, SUNY Inst. of Technology, Utica--(Library Journal
)</p>

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