The King of Corsica - Hardcover

Kleeberg, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590512561 ISBN 13: 9781590512562

Publisher: Other Press, 2008

Synopsis

A modern classic where history, philosophy, and eroticism collide in the grand tradition of the 18th-century novel.

The son of an impoverished Westphalian aristocrat, Theodor von Neuhoff is both seductive and opportunistic. Sent to Versailles to be a page to Princess Palatine, he distinguishes himself as a brilliant and fluent conversationalist with a taste for the ladies and for political intrigue. His missions take him to Holland, Mecklenburg, Venice, and Spain, where he discovers his true vocation as a double agent. Convinced that politics is only a game, in 1736 he has himself proclaimed king by the Corsicans rebelling against Genovese hegemony. As Theodore the First, he plans to transform "his island" into a prosperous kingdom. Yet, he gravely overestimates his own abilities as a monarch and goes down in history as the man who was king for a summer, dying a pauper in London.

In The King of Corsica, Michael Kleeberg—an accomplished prose stylist—draws the portrait of a historical figure caught between the excesses of the Baroque age and the Enlightenment, a master of illusion whose preoccupations are all too familiar to modern readers: money, love, and fame.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Kleeberg lives in Berlin and works as a writer and translator from French and English, including works by Marcel Proust and John Dos Passos. He is the author of three novels, two novellas, and two collections of stories. He won the Lion-Feuchtwanger Prize for best historical novel in 2000, and The King of Corsica is Kleeberg's first book to be published in the U.S. David Dollenmayer is Professor of German at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the translator of works by Bertolt Brecht, Anna Mitgutsch, Perikles Monioudis, and Moses Rosenkranz. He is the author of The Berlin Novels of Alfred Döblin and co-author of Neue Horizonte: A First Course in German Language and Culture. He lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

From Publishers Weekly

German writer and translator Kleeberg probes pockets of early 18th-century power in his smartly droll debut about a larger-than-life poseur. Following the death of his father, an impoverished Theodor von Neuhoff is raised by his doting mother, Amalia. Under her indulgent hand, Neuhoff grows up a dreamer bereft of willpower and discipline, and with the help of Amalia's admirer, the young baron secures a position in the court of Louis XIV at Versailles. Neuhoff successfully parlays his connections and his glib charm into a career as an adventurer and secret agent for several European governments. He marries an Irish noblewoman and settles in Germany, but he soon abandons her and flees to Italy, where he sells his services to Austria. When asked to lead a Corsican rebellion against the Genovese republic in return for the promise of a crown, the long-suffering baron hopes that his moment has finally arrived. Imaginative characterization, rich historical detail and expressive language—[t]he dress... enclosed her body like a metaphor, expressing everything and revealing nothing—make for an impressive American introduction for Kleeberg. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Other Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1590512561
• ISBN 13: 9781590512562
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384