A Club in Montmartre: An Encounter with Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec

Art Encounters

by Mike Resnick

• Mike Resnick’s first story outside the science-fiction genre

• Compelling story of overcoming obstacles

• Toulouse-Lautrec’s lively posters and art are popular with young adults



At the cabarets and brothels of Montmartre, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a well-known visitor. Brilliant, rich, and deformed, Toulouse-Lautrec carries on flirtations and relationships with many women—prostitutes as well as famous singers and dancers. In A Club in Montmartre , renowned writer Mike Resnick imagines the lonely artist meeting a starving waif, Dany, at the famous Moulin Rouge. Dany, like so many before her, falls under the spell of the dissolute can-can dancer known as La Goulue. Toulouse-Lautrec wages a Faustian battle with La Goulue for the young girl’s soul even as he is losing the battle for his own, slipping deeper and deeper into alcoholism and bitterness. This deeply felt story, Resnick’s first in a genre other than science fiction, captures the intensity of a genius caught between his limitations and his aspirations.

Genres: Historical Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2006

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Janice]

A sketch of toulouse-lautrec through the eyes of a young girl

[Shana]

An easy and enjoyable read. Read to determine whether appropriate for my 9 year old, but because of the seedy nature of Monmartre in the time of Toulouse-Lautrec, I will hold off a few years. The mini-lessons his character gives to the ingenue protagonist in how to draw and create art are wonderful.

[Stacy]

Fairly light-weight story suitable for younger teen readers, Resnick delivers a decent sense of historical setting but the plot is rather light and predictable.

[Margaret Carpenter]

Enjoyable if improbable.