The Pope's Rhinoceros

Fiction & Literature, Action Suspense, Literary
Cover of the book The Pope's Rhinoceros by Lawrence Norfolk, Grove Atlantic
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Author: Lawrence Norfolk ISBN: 9780802199423
Publisher: Grove Atlantic Publication: December 1, 2007
Imprint: Grove Press Language: English
Author: Lawrence Norfolk
ISBN: 9780802199423
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Publication: December 1, 2007
Imprint: Grove Press
Language: English

“The acclaimed author of Lemprière’s Dictionary furnishes another richly textured romp steeped in history, legend, and excitement.” —Booklist
 
The Pope’s Rhinoceros is a vivid, antic, and picaresque novel spun around one of history’s most bizarre chapters: the sixteenth-century attempt to procure a rhinoceros as a bribe for Pope Leo X. In February 1516, a Portuguese ship sank off the coast of Italy. The Nostra Senora de Ajuda had sailed fourteen thousand miles from the Indian kingdom of Gujarat. Her mission: to bribe the “pleasure-loving Pope” into favoring expansionist Portugal over her rival Spain with the most exotic and least likely of gifts — a living rhinoceros. Moving from the herring colonies of the Baltic Sea to the West African rain forest, with a cast of characters including an order of reclusive monks and Rome’s corrupt cardinals, courtesans, ambassadors, and nobles, The Pope’s Rhinoceros is at once a fantastic adventure tale and a portrait of an age rushing headlong to its crisis.
 
“An exhausting banquet of a book . . . One of the most original, energetic, and ambitious novels of recent years.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Mr. Norfolk’s heady originality and intellectual energy are apparent on every page.” —The New York Times Book Review

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“The acclaimed author of Lemprière’s Dictionary furnishes another richly textured romp steeped in history, legend, and excitement.” —Booklist
 
The Pope’s Rhinoceros is a vivid, antic, and picaresque novel spun around one of history’s most bizarre chapters: the sixteenth-century attempt to procure a rhinoceros as a bribe for Pope Leo X. In February 1516, a Portuguese ship sank off the coast of Italy. The Nostra Senora de Ajuda had sailed fourteen thousand miles from the Indian kingdom of Gujarat. Her mission: to bribe the “pleasure-loving Pope” into favoring expansionist Portugal over her rival Spain with the most exotic and least likely of gifts — a living rhinoceros. Moving from the herring colonies of the Baltic Sea to the West African rain forest, with a cast of characters including an order of reclusive monks and Rome’s corrupt cardinals, courtesans, ambassadors, and nobles, The Pope’s Rhinoceros is at once a fantastic adventure tale and a portrait of an age rushing headlong to its crisis.
 
“An exhausting banquet of a book . . . One of the most original, energetic, and ambitious novels of recent years.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Mr. Norfolk’s heady originality and intellectual energy are apparent on every page.” —The New York Times Book Review

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