Rasero - Softcover
Imagine what it would be like to have met and conversed, dined and argued with the greatest figures of the Enlightenment. Such is the privilege granted to Fausto Rasero, a Spanish nobleman with an extraordinary appetite for intellectual and carnal knowledge. As he converses with Diderot, Voltaire, and Madame de Pompadour, he still cannot erase the apocalyptic fantasies that plague him as he views the end of the world.
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Language Notes:
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish
From Publishers Weekly:
Original Language: Spanish
Winner of the Mobil Corporation's Pegasus Prize for Literature, Mexican writer Rebolledo's debut is at once a rich historical novel and a racy tale of manners and ideas with a strong element of apocalyptic fantasy. Minor Spanish diplomat Fausto Rasero, who leaves Madrid for Paris in 1740 at age 16, has a unique paranormal gift: each time he reaches orgasm with one of his many elegant lovers, he is granted a clairvoyant?and usually horrifying?vision of the future. Bald since birth, mute until age six, Rasero is perplexed and deeply disturbed by his glimpses of the bombing of Hiroshima, Nazi concentration camps, the slaughter of WWII and Vietnam. During the years the novel chronicles (primarily, 1749-1812), he befriends the famous and infamous, including Voltaire, encyclopedist Denis Diderot, Madame Pompadour, chemist Antoine Lavoisier, Mozart (as a child prodigy), painter Francois Boucher and French revolutionaries Danton and Robespierre. Rasero's affair with Mexican-born Creole actress Mariana Rodgriguez, widow of the viceroy of Mexico, teaches him the meaning of love and temporarily halts his nightmarish visions. Expelled from France by Robespierre, whom Rasero berates for his fanaticism, the clairvoyant escapes to Spain, where he links up with Goya?whose macabre canvases, like Rasero's visions, seem to prefigure our century of horrors. The narrative, which is translated brilliantly here, has a surprise ending, leapfrogging into the present, but one wishes that Rebolledo had given more play to the fantasy element and less to the historical gossip and raunchiness. Even so, this tour de force reads like a message from humanity's collective unconscious. Line drawings not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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- PublisherTrafalgar Square
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 029781754X
- ISBN 13 9780297817543
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Rating
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Rasero
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ISBN 13: 9780297817543
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR006561312
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Rasero This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780297817543
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780297817543
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Rasero
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Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London
(1995)
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Trade Paperback. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1995. *** CONDITION: This book is in very good condition. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; Historical; ISBN: 029781754X. ISBN/EAN: 9780297817543. Inventory No: 10054088. The photo of this book is of the actual book for sale. Seller Inventory # 10054088
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Book Description Paper Back. Condition: Fair. Imagine what it would be like to have met and conversed, dined and argued with the greatest figures of the Enlightenment. Such is the privilege granted to Fausto Rasero, a Spanish nobleman with an extraordinary appetite for intellectual and carnal knowledge. As he converses with Diderot, Voltaire, and Madame de Pompadour, he still cannot erase the apocalyptic fantasies that plague him as he views the end of the world. Foxing and dog eared. Seller Inventory # 1501012
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Orion Publishing Group, Limited
(1995)
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Book Description Other book format. Rasero, an Andalusian diplomat at the court Louis XV, is a privoleged particpantin the proceedings and witness to the private and public lives of everyone from Diderot to Madame de Pompadour. Europes ferment of ideas and politics streams across the pages via a cast of real-life giants-Mozart Boucher, Descartes. Meanwhile, Rasero pursues a passionate romantic career, during which orgasmic viions give him glimpses of the catastrophes of the twentieth century. 'A flamboyant account of almost every aspect of 18th-century France.[Rebolledo] sets down the pictures in his mind's eye with great vividness and vivacity' Sunday Telegraph. A superbly crafted creation.Rasero retains the engaging excitment of a child's adventure story. Seller Inventory # 7849053
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