The Balcony
by Jean Genet
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jean GenetEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-01-21
ISBN: 0802150349
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Grove Press
Book Reviews of The Balcony
Book Review: Thin line between the straight world and a brothel
Summary: 5 Stars
The madame of the famous Grand Balcony brothel provides a safe place where her clients can come to act out their fantasies and take on the identities of important government and religious figures in the real world. Outside the brothel, a revolution is raging, assisted by a former prostitute of the Grand Balcony who uses her voice to spur the rebels on to a greater victory. When the government finally topples, the whores and clients work together to take their impersonations out of the bedroom and restore order by assuming the identities of the great figures who they used to play in bed.Sartre referred to Genet as the prototype of the existential man, whose past as a convicted felon and his subsequent literary career illustrated a life where personal choice drove the moral distinctions. I have read an been absorbed by a number of Genet's works, my favorites being _Our Lady of the Flowers_ and _The Maids_. While I don't believe that _The Balcony_ is up to the level of either of those works, it's an important piece of the history of the theater of the absurd.
Worth reading. Perhaps now more than ever in a world where actors regularly transition to politics.
Summary of The Balcony
“The Balcony is probably the most stunning subversive work of literature to be created since the writings of the famous Marquis.... A major dramatic achievement.? –– Robert Brustein, The New Republic
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