Forrest Leo

4.5 stars

This book had me laughing out loud from the start.
Lionel Savage is a ridiculous character, and the combination of his narrative and the footnotes added by his "editor" is delightful.
I guess this was a play originally. I would love to see it performed. I wonder if the footnote gag was added once he decided to adapt it into a novel. The footnotes, and Savage's obsession with following iambic pentameter, were my favorite things about the book.
Great fun. I hope to see more by this author.… (mais)

I recently took 2 train rides back and forth from NYC for two days in a row. Since the ride is just shy of 2 hours, I usually bring a book that is a bit easier to read and I can more than likely finish on the ride. This time around, I finished 3.5 books with The Gentleman by Forrest Leo being the second book I finished. I picked this one on a whim and I am glad to state that it was a perfect train book.

Lionel Savage is a Victorian poet who has run out of money buying books. Even though he sits on a huge pile of books, he is flat broke. He marries Vivien Lancaster for her money, but finds himself unable to write poems any longer.

He becomes distraught and is ready to kill himself when his sister, a free spirit, come bursting through the doors. A costume party is thrown and the Devil shows up looking to make Lionel be his friend. Lionel accepts The Devil's friendship, loans him a book, cannot find his wife the next day, and is still unable to write poetry. His sister's brother shows up from his safari, when all of a sudden Lionel realizes what has happened- he accidentally sold his wife to the Devil. Now he must take his sister, his brother in law, and himself to hell to go rescue his wife.

This is a silly novel that plays itself off completely straight which adds to the silliness of the novel, if that makes sense. It is meant to be a funny and silly novel, but it isn't so self aware that it comes off as fake, but rather tries to stick to the genre it is centered around- namely Victorian era banter.

There are lots of- "my word," "tally hos," and a few "my good man" throughout the book. It is that type of language. The characters are also caricatures and are meant to be so- Lancaster is an over the top explorer, Lizzie is the free spirited Victorian girl straight from the pages of your favorite Victorian book, etc. That is part of the fun.

There are also some wonderful art pieces throughout the book that break it up a bit, such as one would find in a Victorian book. They too are silly. One of my favorites was one of Lionel sitting in a giant chair with books not only thrown about, but the chair sits on a pile of books. It was my dream chair. It is just fun

The only critique is because it is a parody it becomes a bit long and a bit too much after a bit. We could have gotten to our destination just a bit faster, for my taste, once we had established all the key players. It is still a fun book though and worth a read, but maybe a library or a sale.

I gave this one 3.5 stars.
… (mais)

I knew I would like Lionel Savage from the start. The poor poet's not impoverished for a lack of sales but from spending his income on books. To climb out of poverty's pit, he hatches a quixotic scheme that lands him in an unhappy marriage to a "vapid, timid, querulous creature," whom Savage accidentally ends up selling to the devil at yet another of the new bride's insufferable masquerades. One thing leads to another, and Savage and a motley cast of characters embark on a madcap adventure to Hades, Hell, Sheol, and/or the Underworld, in order to bring her back.

The Gentleman is Forrest Leo's first book, and I certainly hope it won't be his last as this zany, witty, light-hearted novel is entertaining, fast-paced, and fun. The illustrations are a nice addition to the plot, and I particularly enjoyed the repartee between Savage and his butler Simmons. (Think Jeeves and Wooster-- but with Jeeves willing to strip down to his skivvies for the sake of art!)

The Gentleman is just what I needed to help pull me out of the doldrums that this current election-cycle has me in. It was nice to be able to sit back for a few hours, drink a pot of tea, and enjoy a book that really needs to be made into a movie or Broadway show just as quickly as possible.

One thing this world needs more of is fun, and Forrest Leo delivers.

I recommend this to fans of P.G. Wodehouse and as a nice companion read to go along with "The Devil and Tom Walker."… (mais)