3 Review(s)

Seducer, gambler, necromancer, swindler, Good Samaritan, spy, swashbuckler, self-made gentleman, entrepreneur, wit, poet, translator, philosopher, and general bon vivant, Giacomo Casanova was not only the most notorious lover the Western world has known, but also a storyteller of the first order. Since he lived a life richer and stranger than most fictions, the tale of his own adventures is his most compelling story, but his memoir remained – at twelve volumes – unfinished at the time of his death in 1798. In these selections, made from authoritative French texts, are all the highlights of Casanova's life; carousing and dabbling in the occult; imprisonment and thrilling escapes; travels and encounters with major literary figures and world leaders; and of course, many amorous conquests, ranging from noblewomen to nuns to cobblers' daughters, all of them willing partners in the adventures of his life.