"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad," is how it starts. It has sword fights, revenge, irony, and romance. I reread it about every ten years and still enjoy it.

Read this when I was in high school. Great action adventure. Have read it three times since.

I bought this because Michael Chabon listed it among his ten favorite novels. That seems strong -- it's a diverting swashbuckler, but not terribly memorable. ( )

Exemplifying a certain type of historical adventure that soon was dragged down into cliche and has since become, sadly, an anachronism, "Scaramouche" is one of the great adventure stories to come out of the 1920s. Its joys rest entirely on its central character, one Andre-Louis Moreau, who later becomes known as Scaramouche. The novel follows his life through the first rumblings of the French Revolution through its final explosion in the streets of Paris. Out to avenge the death of a friend in a duel, Andre leads a life that sees him becoming an actor, a swordsman, a politician and a revolutionary. As the society around him falls apart, he remains a cynical and brilliant personality, tempered in a strong sense of morality. The book is light, fast-paced reading, yet always intelligent and engaging. Everything a best-seller should be.

(This review originally appeared on zombieunderground.net) ( )