The French Revolution

Loosely structured on the greatest identity crisis ever, The French Revolution is the hilarious, tragic, and deeply imaginative story of a San Francisco family forging its place in history.

Esmerelda Van Twinkle, a failed pastry chef turned out-sized copy shop manager, stumbles into motherhood after a semi-intentional liaison with good-natured coupon distributor Jasper Winslow. Born on Bastille Day, their twin children Robespierre and Marat revolt against archaic rules imposed by their autocratic grandmother, surmount radically misguided parenting, navigate factional infighting, and combat wars in the Middle East to achieve great personal gain.

But just as the family is on the cusp of achieving meteoric success in politics, business, music, and gastronomy, fissures from the past crack open spectacularly, derailing their bid for long-lived power while cementing a reputation for the ages.

Matt Stewart blends vibrant prose, unforgettable characters, and a multi-layered plot based on the extremes of the historical French Revolution for a relentlessly entertaining debut novel. Viva la révolution!

""Best of all, Stewart's language sparkles, sometimes riffing like Bob Dylan, always moving the narrative forward....The novel, first issued via Twitter in blocks of slightly more than 100 characters, provides easy entertainment in book form." Kirkus Reviews

"So good that I wanted to be where I was going so I could just read it." Examiner.com

"A pioneer." CNN

"An excellent achievement in storytelling and a unique perspective on family drama. Matt Stewart serves up a delicious dark humor that had me laughing out loud. The French Revolution is a great novel that will stay in your head for years, like a soft cut to the jugular from a sharp guillotine." Tony DuShane, author of Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk

Matt Stewart's short stories have appeared in Instant City, McSweeney's, Opium Magazine, and other literary publications, and he blogs regularly for The Huffington Post. He lives in San Francisco. The French Revolution is his first novel.