Synopses & Reviews
The Glorious Ones travel the length and breadth of seventeenth-century Italy, playing commedia dell'arte in the streets and palaces with equal vigor. Founded by the ingenious madman Flamino Scala, the small company of players endures kidnappings and passionate affairs, cabals, riots, disgrace—all manner of triumph and hardship. Pantalone the miser, sunny Armanda the dwarf, gossip-loving Columbina, and evil-minded Brighella view their myriad shared adventures through markedly different eyes. Yet not one of them is prepared for the strange twisting of the road brought about by the mysterious arrival of Isabella Andreini, who has come to direct their wayward troupe.
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of Reading Like a Writer and A Changed Man, an early novel about a theater troupe in 17th century Italy, republished to coincide with the opening of a Broadway musical inspired by the book
The Glorious Ones travel the length and breadth of 17th-century Italy, playing commedia dell'arte in the streets and palaces with equal vigor. A small company of players founded by the ingenious madman Flamino Scala, they endure kidnappings, passionate affairs, cabals, riots, disgrace, and all manner of triumph and hardship. Pantalone the miser, sunny Armanda the dwarf, gossip-loving Columbina, and evil-minded Brighella view their myriad shared adventures through markedly different eyes. Yet not one of them is prepared for the strange twisting of the road brought about by the mysterious arrival of Isabella Andreini, who has come to direct their wayward troupe.
In a beautiful new package, The Glorious Ones features musical tie-in cover art, as well as the original, beautiful interior designed by Harry Ford in 1974.
About the Author
Francine Prose is the author of twenty works of fiction. Her novel A Changed Man won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and Blue Angel was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her most recent works of nonfiction include the highly acclaimed Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, and the New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer. The recipient of numerous grants and honors, including a Guggenheim and a Fulbright, a Director's Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, Prose is a former president of PEN American Center, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her most recent book is Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932. She lives in New York City.