This playful collection of 14 original monologues gives voice to characters and observers from the 18th century French fairs. Before the Revolution, these were a prime source of entertainment for people of all classes.
Among those who speak in these monologues are a man with two heads, a rope dancer, a strong woman, a marionettist, a tumbler, a "turner" and various presenters of mechanical or animal exhibits.
All of the subjects, even the most unlikely, actually existed in Pre-Revolutionary France. As imagined here, their voices are ribald, resentful, poignant, pensive, cocky, exuberant, and introduce the reader to both the color and variety and some behind the scenes human drama of the once immensely popular Old Regime fairs.
This second edition (and first print edition) includes an appendix with glimpses of the inspirations for these pieces.