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Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf
"Not your conventional art-historical view of the Renaissance Pope Leo X, usually perceived as supercultivated, if worldly, patron of Raphael and Michelangelo. Here, he's kin to Robert Nye's earthy, lusty personae of Falstaff and Faust, with Rabelasian verve, both scatological and venereal. Strangely shards of gnostic thought emerge from the dwarf's swampish mind. In any case, the narrative of this novel blisters along with a Blackadderish cunning." The Observer
*First published in 1995, this one immediately caught readers' imaginations and has since become something of a contemporary classic. It has a cute frame opening (' It is not necessary for me to relate precisely how these memoirs fell into my hands...' ) and an ugly, if memorable opening proper, reminiscent of the start of Earthly Powers: ' This morning his Holiness summoned me to read from St Augustine, while the physician applied unguents and salves to his suppurating arse...' The rest is freakish couplings, religious sects, torture: a cracking read for all ages, then." Giles Foden in The Guardian
"Some books make their way by stealth; a buzz develops, a cult is formed. Take Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf, published by Dedalus in 1995. The opening paragraphs paint an unforgettable picture of poor portly Leo having unguents applied to his suppurating anus after one too many buggerings from his catamite. Then comes the killer pay off line: " Leo is Pope, after all." You can't not read on after that." I took it on holiday and was transported to the Vatican of the Renaissance; Peppe, the heretical dwarf of the title, became more real than the amiable pair of windsurfers I'd taken with me."
Suzi Feay in The New Statesman
"Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf was overwhelmingly the most popular choice of Gay Times reviewers in last year's Books of the Year. Reprinted now this outrageous tale of the Renaissance papacy, heretics, circus freaks and sex should be at the top of everyone's 'must read' list."
Jonathan Hales in Gay Times
*First published in 1995, this one immediately caught readers' imaginations and has since become something of a contemporary classic. It has a cute frame opening (' It is not necessary for me to relate precisely how these memoirs fell into my hands...' ) and an ugly, if memorable opening proper, reminiscent of the start of Earthly Powers: ' This morning his Holiness summoned me to read from St Augustine, while the physician applied unguents and salves to his suppurating arse...' The rest is freakish couplings, religious sects, torture: a cracking read for all ages, then." Giles Foden in The Guardian
"Some books make their way by stealth; a buzz develops, a cult is formed. Take Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf, published by Dedalus in 1995. The opening paragraphs paint an unforgettable picture of poor portly Leo having unguents applied to his suppurating anus after one too many buggerings from his catamite. Then comes the killer pay off line: " Leo is Pope, after all." You can't not read on after that." I took it on holiday and was transported to the Vatican of the Renaissance; Peppe, the heretical dwarf of the title, became more real than the amiable pair of windsurfers I'd taken with me."
Suzi Feay in The New Statesman
"Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf was overwhelmingly the most popular choice of Gay Times reviewers in last year's Books of the Year. Reprinted now this outrageous tale of the Renaissance papacy, heretics, circus freaks and sex should be at the top of everyone's 'must read' list."
Jonathan Hales in Gay Times
Book Details
- Publisher: Dedalus
- Publish Date: Mar 31st, 2014
- Pages: 336
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 7.70in - 4.90in - 0.90in - 0.70lb
- EAN: 9781909232754
- Categories: • Historical - General• Literary• LGBTQ+ - Gay
More books to explore
About the Author
Madsen, David: - David Madsen is the pseudonym of a theologian and philosopher. His baroque talent is best seen in his novels; Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf, The Confessions of a Flesh-Eater and A Box of Dreams and the cult cookbook Orlando Crispe's Flesh-Eater's Cookbook. His work has been translated into twelve languages.
More books by David Madsen
What people are saying
Dedalus Books
@dedalusbooks
2 years
Independent Publisher of Contemporary English language fiction, translated European fiction, European classics
@GavinWoltjer Have you read Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen? It is considered by many as our most outrageous title and for many years our most successful. It was included in The Guardian's 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die and was a question on University Challenge. https://t.co/L4FUAvtXQP
Praise for this book
"Madsen's tale of how Peppe becomes the Pope's companion and is forced to choose between his master and his beliefs displays both erudition and a real storyteller's gift."
Erica Wagner in The Times
Erica Wagner in The Times
"A pungent historical fiction on a par with Patrick Suskind's Perfume."
The Independent on Sunday Summer Reading Selection
The Independent on Sunday Summer Reading Selection
"There are books which, arriving at precisely the right moment, are like life-belts thrown to one when one is in danger of drowning. Such a book for me was Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf."
Francis King in Gay Times
Francis King in Gay Times
What people are saying
Dedalus Books
@dedalusbooks
2 years
Independent Publisher of Contemporary English language fiction, translated European fiction, European classics
@GavinWoltjer Have you read Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen? It is considered by many as our most outrageous title and for many years our most successful. It was included in The Guardian's 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die and was a question on University Challenge. https://t.co/L4FUAvtXQP