Part of La Comédie Humaine
First published 2010
Félix Gaudissart arrives in a French provincial town with his usual confidence. He has talked his way into countless sales, charmed reluctant customers, and built his reputation on an ability to persuade anyone of anything. This latest assignment should prove no different from the rest. But when Gaudissart encounters a local eccentric whose mental state defies all logic, the salesman discovers that his polished techniques mean nothing. The madman responds to Gaudissart's pitches with bizarre tangents and impossible reasoning that leave the normally smooth-talking visitor completely baffled. What begins as a routine business call transforms into an absurd battle of wits where the supposed expert finds himself outmaneuvered at every turn. Balzac crafts this brief tale as pure comedy, showing how even the most skilled manipulator can be undone by someone who operates outside the normal rules of human interaction.
Genres: satire, classic-literature, french-literature, literary-fiction, comedy, 19th-century
Vibes: absurdist, humorous, ironic, satirical, witty
Tropes: battle-of-wits, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-logic
Setting: French provincial town
Period: 19th century
26 pages · Paperback · Kessinger Publishing