Product Description

"Not only are we no longer capable of seeing the tragedies that have befallen us, we are incapable even of registering our own incapacity to do so . . . [but] Duteurtre sees, and records all that he sees."-Milan Kundera

"A joy to read, as much as it is alarming."-Le Monde

In the over-legislated world of this outrageous comedy, a death row inmate becomes a darling of the media-and the tobacco conglomerates-after he demands his right to a final cigarette in a smoke-free prison.

Meanwhile, a little girl accuses a petty municipal bureaucrat of sexual perversion when she catches him sneaking a cigarette. Incredulously, he realizes that in this world where children are not just kings, but tyrants, a cigarette could lead him to the electric chair.

At the cutting edge of European fiction, young, hip French author Benoît Duteurtre creates a world disconcertingly close to our own-yet wildly askew-in this daring and antic comedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1172585 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Released on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 187 pages

About the Author
Winner of the prestigious Prix Medici award, and author of 11 novels translated in 13 languages, Duteurtre has been acclaimed by Milan Kundera for his edgy, incisive humor, and called "a cultural bomb thrower" for his satiric take on modern life.

Customer Reviews

Modern-Day Cult of the Child Is Satirized
In an arch, assured style, Duteurtre alternates two plots, one of a death-row prisoner putting a cog in the legal system by demanding his right to a final cigarette before his execution and an adult intellectual who feels at odds in a world where children are worshipped as gods. Duteurtre uses these two plots as vehicles for his real agenda: to satirize modern day's love of political correctness, utopian-visioned do-gooders, absurd legalism, and a society so bereft of ideals and so soggy-brained that its only "religion" is the adoration of the child, as a sort of symbol of society's replenishment and renewal. The satire is never forced or obvious, as too many books that attempt humor are guilty of. Instead, the author effortlessly weaves his satirical themes into his narrative so that the book mirrors our modern day absurdities with crystal clear vision and gives us a facile story at once. As this is the first book of many to be translated into English, I must either learn French or wait eagerly for Duteurtre's other books to be translated.

"The Children Are Running The Asylum"
Although this satirical tale is occasionally forced or given to swiping at too easy targets, in its central thrust it's undeniably successful. Using a deadpan satiric approach, Duteurtre ponders the last two remaining sins in our post-industrial, developed world. Here, where good health is the primary duty of life and children have replaced the gods, cigarette smoking has become one of the greatest evils. In first place, though, is child molestation, whether real or just merely alleged. In a society which worships the child, and therefore turns out to be pretty much run by children, the charge of such abuse becomes itself indistinguishable from the deed and is thought equally deserving of the ultimate punishment. It is the author's winning satirical insight that a contemporary moppet might be smart enough to make a false accusation against an adult out of mere vengefulness but be believed as an honest reporter of dire events. What other conclusion could one expect from ignorant grownups clinging tenaciously to a perverse belief in the natural goodness of children?

nicely done
very entertaining book. dark humour and wit, a nice length for a book, not one of those harry potter dictionary types thank god. not your feel good story but definitely worth a read.