A man who longs to experience everything races through history towards metaphysical doom. A Roman general undertakes a desperate ploy to stave off final defeat. A philosopher fails to rigorously define the terms of his will, with confusing results for the inheritors of his estate. A father’s place as head of the household is threatened when his wife takes in a stray cat. These are only a few of the thirty brief stories that make up this strange, surreal collection.
A work of art should stand on its own, divorced from the personality of the creator. That is the only way the creator can be a work of art in himself.
Bauvard fears for the moral fiber of the rare soul who does peruse him. Having a great deal to say about nothing often turns readers into reactionary optimists - and it is bad business to create supply amidst surplus.
His only hope is that the people of a distant time will have a look at his writings with a view to being edified and entertained. Not people of the future - his work will be too outdated and boring by then. No, Bauvard's books belong to the past. There are some who live as a ghost among the ancients.
Who, then, are his readers? The upright, the honest, the hard-working, the family-man - in short, the humane - should stay away at all costs. Bauvard's view of life is too uncompromising for them. But for the decadents, the freethinkers, the self-creators - they may approach with doubt.