cover image Beaumarchais: A Biography

Beaumarchais: A Biography

Maurise Lever, . . Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26 (411pp) ISBN 978-0-374-11328-5

In The Barber of Seville , Figaro admits, “Where there's a call for my services, I am a man of initiative who goes to work with a will.” So, too, Figaro's creator, the irrepressible and optimistic libertine Beaumarchais (1732–1799) gained support for his infamous Figaro plays, helped fellow authors procure copyrights and went into exile during the French Revolution. Rather than presenting a strictly chronological account, Lever (Sade: A Biography ), who died in 2006, examines one great episode at a time, allowing for full immersion in each of the playwright's self-made difficulties. He lost considerable sums of his own while funneling French funds to support the American Revolution, asserting that the “cause of America is... the cause of humanity.” But Beaumarchais experienced the terrors of a revolution done badly in his own country and was nearly executed for his efforts. Never apologetic for his appetites and fondness for controversy, Beaumarchais slyly asked, “When one has got a bad reputation, what remains but to enjoy it?” This edition is packed with adventures, leaving one to wonder what other entertaining anecdotes are in the three-volume French version. 8 pages of b&w illus. (May 5)