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A Vaudeville of Devils: 7 Moral Tales
From the acclaimed author of Madeleine's Ghost and Vaporetto 13 comes a mesmerizing collection of seven novellas and stories that explore, through the lives of a variety of extraordinary and ordinary characters, our many moral quandaries.
Meet Hans Otto Graebner as he lingers in the beach resort of Ostend, on the North Sea. Soon this haggard SS officer will be dispatched to perform the menial but necessary task of locating and assassinating a degenerate Belgian painter.
Join "The Dinner Party," where a man stands adrift in a distinctly Borgesian universe, somewhere at the end of time. It could be the Apocalypse or some ghoulish carnival. He's attending a feast at an anonymous mansion while the fall of Babylon is acted out around him, and he struggles to hold on to the faint remnants of his conscience while the world goes up in flames.
Turn to a search for "The Primordial Face," in which two expatriates, one of them mute, go diving for a mythological treasure at the bottom of the sea and wind up competing for the love of the obsessive expedition leader's young daughter.
And spend "Sunday Evenings at Contessa Pasquali's," where a man and a woman torture each other with indifference and affection and find that love can be born of terrible schemes.
With this volume, Robert Girardi illustrates a world that is both beautifully alluring and brilliantly sinister, where souls are lost and won on the simple weight of everyday decisions. Rich with history and irony, vastly entertaining and told in the timeless style of tales, fables, and myths, these meditations on morality remind us of the eternal human condition.
Meet Hans Otto Graebner as he lingers in the beach resort of Ostend, on the North Sea. Soon this haggard SS officer will be dispatched to perform the menial but necessary task of locating and assassinating a degenerate Belgian painter.
Join "The Dinner Party," where a man stands adrift in a distinctly Borgesian universe, somewhere at the end of time. It could be the Apocalypse or some ghoulish carnival. He's attending a feast at an anonymous mansion while the fall of Babylon is acted out around him, and he struggles to hold on to the faint remnants of his conscience while the world goes up in flames.
Turn to a search for "The Primordial Face," in which two expatriates, one of them mute, go diving for a mythological treasure at the bottom of the sea and wind up competing for the love of the obsessive expedition leader's young daughter.
And spend "Sunday Evenings at Contessa Pasquali's," where a man and a woman torture each other with indifference and affection and find that love can be born of terrible schemes.
With this volume, Robert Girardi illustrates a world that is both beautifully alluring and brilliantly sinister, where souls are lost and won on the simple weight of everyday decisions. Rich with history and irony, vastly entertaining and told in the timeless style of tales, fables, and myths, these meditations on morality remind us of the eternal human condition.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Robert Girardi
16 books36 followersRobert Girardi is the author of four previous novels and one volume of novellas, all of which have been widely translated. He has written for film and television. His nonfiction pieces and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Washingtonian, The New Republic, The National Review and Landscape Architecture Magazine, among other publications. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and USC Film School, Girardi has received a James Michener Fellowship. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his three children.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 1, 2007
(The following is an excerpt from my review that appeared in "Bookworld" in The Washington Post in May 1999):
Carnival of Lost Souls
The subtitle and the introductory quote from Isak Dinesen's "The Old Chevalier" in Robert Girardi's latest book, A Vaudeville of Devils, invite comparison to Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales. This bold move fills the reader with greedy anticipation as the first of Girardi's tales, "The Demons Tormenting Untersturmfuehrer Hans Otto Graebner," unfolds. Note, please: These are tales -- they unfold.
Carnival of Lost Souls
The subtitle and the introductory quote from Isak Dinesen's "The Old Chevalier" in Robert Girardi's latest book, A Vaudeville of Devils, invite comparison to Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales. This bold move fills the reader with greedy anticipation as the first of Girardi's tales, "The Demons Tormenting Untersturmfuehrer Hans Otto Graebner," unfolds. Note, please: These are tales -- they unfold.
April 29, 2020
"Love can be born of terrible schemes..."
November 14, 2018
I had never encountered this author before, but the cover image and the subtitle of "7 Moral Tales" intrigued me enough to take a chance. I loved six of the seven stories, and my lack of enthusiasm for the seventh may have been caused by reading it when I was too sleepy to stay awake. Girardi covers a wide variety of ground here - there is the tale of a Nazi in World War II looking to destroy degenerate art; the parallel stories of a man trying to save the workers in his company from losing their jobs and a man in the time of the Crusades fighting against impossible odds; an overwhelmingly great long story about a guy diving near the coast of Yemen looking for an ancient giant face which could be a statue from a primitive civilization or could be a natural large rock; a Greek myth updated to a future world where technology has been replaced by magic; an incredible tale about a lawyer looking to defend the indefensible in court; and a horrific love story. Each of these stories is made better by Girardi's talent at invoking perfect details to add veracity, and by his really good abilities at crafting believable dialogue. I'm going to keep this guy's name in mind to see if his novels are as good as these stories.
September 16, 2012
Girardi does an excellent job of creating the scenes in his period piece shorts. He chooses the perfect words and seems to have an in depth knowledge of what he's writing about, from diving to Italian history.
One thing that should really be noted is that the sub-title of this story collection is, 7 Moral Tales. What Girardi does is create these vignettes of the world to philosophize on the ambiguity of morality. But that is also the problem. A firm and compelling story can not be an ambiguous one. He leaves the stories drifting in a sea of grey with the feeling of no conclusion. At the end of each one they fell flat, lifeless and empty. Which is sad because I did like his ideas and concepts.
I was also a bit confused initially feeling that the stories had a science fiction/fantasy element, demons, post apocalyptic America and Knights though I don't think that was the intention. Especially since the finally two stories had none of the elements. From an editorial perspective they should have gone with one or the other and not a mixture, if only to keep the theme going. A side note to the publishers: your margins are to small, top, bottom, right and left.
One thing that should really be noted is that the sub-title of this story collection is, 7 Moral Tales. What Girardi does is create these vignettes of the world to philosophize on the ambiguity of morality. But that is also the problem. A firm and compelling story can not be an ambiguous one. He leaves the stories drifting in a sea of grey with the feeling of no conclusion. At the end of each one they fell flat, lifeless and empty. Which is sad because I did like his ideas and concepts.
I was also a bit confused initially feeling that the stories had a science fiction/fantasy element, demons, post apocalyptic America and Knights though I don't think that was the intention. Especially since the finally two stories had none of the elements. From an editorial perspective they should have gone with one or the other and not a mixture, if only to keep the theme going. A side note to the publishers: your margins are to small, top, bottom, right and left.
September 2, 2007
I remember reading bits of this book aloud to some friends on a summer road trip.
One of those friends remembered that I liked the author a lot, and as it happened, we both worked at the same bookstore. So when Girardi came in to sign whatever we had of his in stock, my friend called me up to the front for a totally bogus reason, so she could surprise me.
Robert Girardi was super-friendly and totally pleased that I liked his writing so much. He signed a copy of this book for me, and we chatted for a little while about the stories.
That was a cool moment.
One of those friends remembered that I liked the author a lot, and as it happened, we both worked at the same bookstore. So when Girardi came in to sign whatever we had of his in stock, my friend called me up to the front for a totally bogus reason, so she could surprise me.
Robert Girardi was super-friendly and totally pleased that I liked his writing so much. He signed a copy of this book for me, and we chatted for a little while about the stories.
That was a cool moment.
January 12, 2020
Seven brilliant and haunting moral tales, like the Seven Deadly Sins told through the five senses, filled with the imperfections of being human and the large area of lived experience that sits between Good and Evil. One of those books I hoped would be never-ending.
December 17, 2016
Excellent read!
September 7, 2009
You should probably read this book.
No, I take that back: you most certainly should read this book. If for no other reason than for a story which appears about halfway through the collection titled The Defenestration of Aba Sid.
Not that most of the other stories in this book aren't very, very good. They are. They are weird and lovely and beautifully written, each with a subtly distinct style, and with great care for both language and detail.
Now sit down and hold on to something because I'm about to type something I almost never, ever write or say: favorite. The Defenestration of Aba Sid is my favorite short story ever. And in "ever" I am including the short works of O Henry, Mark Twain, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman; all of whom I like a great deal more over all as writers (sorry, Robert). It is a very good story. I want to give it to everyone. I want to turn it into a play. I want to make it into a movie, and I know bugger-all about film-making! It's tidy and moral and dark, it says a great deal about justice and reality and perception; it's about relativism and perception and about the difference between "good" and "right."
I don't wish to talk it up too much, though. I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Just know that it's very fine, and you should read it.
Oh, and the rest of the stories, too; I mean, while you have the book there and all. They're worth it.
No, I take that back: you most certainly should read this book. If for no other reason than for a story which appears about halfway through the collection titled The Defenestration of Aba Sid.
Not that most of the other stories in this book aren't very, very good. They are. They are weird and lovely and beautifully written, each with a subtly distinct style, and with great care for both language and detail.
Now sit down and hold on to something because I'm about to type something I almost never, ever write or say: favorite. The Defenestration of Aba Sid is my favorite short story ever. And in "ever" I am including the short works of O Henry, Mark Twain, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman; all of whom I like a great deal more over all as writers (sorry, Robert). It is a very good story. I want to give it to everyone. I want to turn it into a play. I want to make it into a movie, and I know bugger-all about film-making! It's tidy and moral and dark, it says a great deal about justice and reality and perception; it's about relativism and perception and about the difference between "good" and "right."
I don't wish to talk it up too much, though. I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Just know that it's very fine, and you should read it.
Oh, and the rest of the stories, too; I mean, while you have the book there and all. They're worth it.
August 31, 2007
This is a great one! Everyone in the group enjoyed it – good stories, exciting plot twists, each of the seven tales unique.
October 19, 2007
Bob's best.
October 19, 2007
I met Bob last year, a friend of friends, read this: a delight. Had read Madeline's Ghost years ago.
December 23, 2011
Enjoyed this very much.
April 23, 2012
One of my favorite modern writers, this books is my top recommendations of his books. Short stories all about humanity and it's hidden devils.
August 6, 2016
I randomly grabbed this and am so glad I did-- haunting and beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews