Overview

Absinthe is the story of Jean Mardet. In his house, a house noted on no official register, in his cellar, among his alembics and flagons, Jean, now known as Jose--priest, magician, sage--celebrates his curious mass, surrounded by his flock, distibuting his wonderful and bitter drink. And to a young boy in the village, Jose seems a wizard, and something more--revealing to the young boy the mysteries of absinthe and mesmerizing the youth with the fabulous stories and emotions that the drink inspires, until March 17, 1915. That day absinthe is outlawed in his country and Jose disappears, taking with him the secrets of his art and of his past. But a boy of nine has discovered the astonishing powers of absinthe, the green enchantress: he has daydreamed amid the chaos of the stills and has learned well at the hand of the old distiller. And in the mysteries of the green liquer has discovered his own past and future.

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Reviews

""A famous lineage of devoted artists--among others, Manet, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Picasso, and Hemingway--have sought to record the numbingly delicious effects of the drink. Christophe Bataille enters their ranks, offering an elegant, though modest, contribution to the genre, a quietly reverent study of the demise of a lost potion."" --Village Voice   ""[T]his is a story to turn in the light of reflection like a glass of cordial in lamplight."" --Booklist ""A splendid little allegory of the conflict between folkways and modern society--with an exactly appropriate bitter aftertaste."" --Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Christophe Bataille lives in France. His first novel, Annam, was published to critical acclaim when Bataille was only twenty-one years old and won for its author France's prestigious Prix du Premier Roman. Of his three previous novels, Annam and Hourmaster have been translated into English by the poet Richard Howard, who is also known for his translations of Camus, Foucault, Barthes, and others.

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