Alain René Le Sage 2 hr 58 min read

A limping demon lifts the rooftops of Madrid to reveal the secret vices, follies, and comedies playing out inside every house in the city.

Alain-René Le Sage's 1707 'The Devil upon Two Sticks' is a witty, satirical French classic of a mischievous demon exposing human nature. Sharp, entertaining, hugely influential. Read it for a delightful comic fantasy that peels the roofs off society to lay its foibles bare, in French.

In its time

Published in 1707, during the Pre-1800, voyages to the moon, subterranean worlds, and philosophical utopias, the deep roots of the imaginative tradition, from kepler and cyrano to the enlightenment.

Reading it

2 hr 58 min read (a novel-length work, settle in).