The Only SonThe Only Son
When Franðcois, the older brother of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is ultimately disowned by his family and flees to Paris's underworld, he finds work in a brothel that caters to politicians and the clergy and begins his personal study of the varieties of sexual desire.
The Only Son is the fictional autobiography of Francois Rousseau, older brother of Jean-Jacques. Mentioned only once in Jean-Jacques' classic Confessions and dismissed as a libertine, Francois has been lost to history until now. Stephane Audeguy brilliantly resurrects him - and the secret life of eighteenth-century Paris.
Apprenticed to a clock maker and instructed at an early age in the philosophy of libertinage by a decadent aristocrat, Francois is disowned by his family and makes his way to Paris. He finds work at an exclusive brothel that caters to the fancies and fetishes of politicians and clergymen. There his clock-making skills are put to ingeniously kinky use. During the Reign of Terror, Francois lands in the Bastille, where he befriends the Marquis de Sade.
Francois' story is a fascinating portrait of revolutionary Paris. Unlike Jean-Jacques, who extolled the virtues of the natural man, Francois celebrates the highly cultivated pleasures of the libertine. As he recalls the sights, sounds, and predilections of the demimonde, he has much more on his mind than mere titillation. In its examination of the erotic interplay between the individual and society, the private and the public man, The Only Son is, in essence, the anti-Confessions - Francois Rousseau's own, decidedly different, portrait of human nature.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau mentions his older brother François only two times in his classic Confessions. In The Only Son, Stéphane Audeguy resurrects Rousseau's forgotten brother in a picaresque tale that brings to life the secret world of eighteenth-century Paris.
Instructed at an early age in the philosophy of libertinage by a decadent aristocrat and later apprenticed to a clock maker, François is ultimately disowned by his family and flees to Paris's underworld. There he finds work in a brothel that caters to politicians and clergy and begins his personal study of the varieties of sexual desire—to its most arcane proclivities. Audeguy uses the libertine's progress to explore the interplay between the individual and society, much in the tradition of Jean-Jacques, but with a very different emphasis. Bold, erotic, and historically fascinating, The Only Son is, in many ways, the anti-Confessions—François' own, decidedly different, portrait of human nature.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau mentions his older brother François only two times in his classicConfessions. In The Only Son, Stéphane Audeguy resurrects Rousseau's forgotten brother in a picaresque tale that brings to life the secret world of eighteenth-century Paris.
Instructed at an early age in the philosophy of libertinage by a decadent aristocrat and later apprenticed to a clock maker, François is ultimately disowned by his family and flees to Paris's underworld. There he finds work in a brothel that caters to politicians and clergy and begins his personal study of the varieties of sexual desireto its most arcane proclivities. Audeguy uses the libertine's progress to explore the interplay between the individual and society, much in the tradition of Jean-Jacques, but with a very different emphasis. Bold, erotic, and historically fascinating, The Only Son is, in many ways, the anti-ConfessionsFrançois' own, decidedly different, portrait of human nature.
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- Orlando : Harcourt, c2008.
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