THE PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY
  • Home
  • About
  • Manly P. Hall
  • Online Classes
  • Events
    • Wellness
    • Videos
  • Library
  • Residencies
    • Artist-in-Residence
    • Lecturer-in-Residence
    • Scholar-in-Residence
  • Gallery
  • Shop
    • MPH Book SALE
    • Manly P. Hall Book Bundles
    • Books by Manly P. Hall >
      • MPH Lecture Notes
      • MPH Pamphlets
      • MPH Learning to Live Courses
    • MPH Audio >
      • MPH Collection at BetterListen.com
    • MPH E-Books
    • Reprint Series curated by MPH
    • Symbolic Prints and Posters
    • Books and Catalogs >
      • Mitch Horowitz
      • Dr. Obadiah Harris
    • Rare and Used Books
    • Gifts & Curiosities >
      • Gift Cards
    • Tarot
    • PRS Tote Bags
    • Curbside Pickup
    • Shipping Update
  • Search
  • Support
  • Books and Catalogs
  • >
  • Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men: Political Fairy Tales of Édouard Laboulaye

Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men: Political Fairy Tales of Édouard Laboulaye

SKU: 9780691181868
$22.95
$22.95
Unavailable
per item

Wry political fairy tales from a nineteenth-century politician that speak to our current times

Édouard Laboulaye (1811–1883), one of nineteenth-century France’s most prominent politicians and an instrumental figure in establishing the Statue of Liberty, was also a prolific writer of fairy tales. Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men brings together sixteen of Laboulaye’s most artful stories in new translations. Filled with biting social commentary and strong notions of social justice, these rediscovered tales continue to impart lessons today.

Inspired by folktales from such places as Estonia, Germany, Iceland, and Italy, Laboulaye’s deceptively entertaining stories explore the relationships between society and the ruling class. In “Briam the Fool,” the hero refuses the queen’s hand after he kills the king. In “Zerbino the Bumpkin,” the king and prime minister are idiots, while the king’s daughter runs away with a woodcutter to an enchanted island. And in the title story, “Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men,” a superficial prince is schooled by a middle-class woman who smacks him when he won’t engage in his lessons and follows him across Europe until he falls in love with her. In these worlds, shallow aristocrats come to value liberty, women are as assertive and intelligent as men, and protagonists experience compassion as they learn of human suffering.

With an introduction by leading fairy-tale scholar Jack Zipes that places Laboulaye’s writing in historical context, Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men presents spirited tales from the past that speak to contemporary life.



Pages:

288

Size:

5.5 x 7.75 in.

Illus:15 b/w illus.

Paperback

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
1 available
Add to Cart
The Philosophical Research Society
3910 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.663.2167 | info [at] prs.org
Our campus is currently closed due to COVID-19, but we are eager to reopen when it is safe. Limited curbside pickup available. See the shop for more details.
Support PRS
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
  • Manly P. Hall
  • Online Classes
  • Events
    • Wellness
    • Videos
  • Library
  • Residencies
    • Artist-in-Residence
    • Lecturer-in-Residence
    • Scholar-in-Residence
  • Gallery
  • Shop
    • MPH Book SALE
    • Manly P. Hall Book Bundles
    • Books by Manly P. Hall >
      • MPH Lecture Notes
      • MPH Pamphlets
      • MPH Learning to Live Courses
    • MPH Audio >
      • MPH Collection at BetterListen.com
    • MPH E-Books
    • Reprint Series curated by MPH
    • Symbolic Prints and Posters
    • Books and Catalogs >
      • Mitch Horowitz
      • Dr. Obadiah Harris
    • Rare and Used Books
    • Gifts & Curiosities >
      • Gift Cards
    • Tarot
    • PRS Tote Bags
    • Curbside Pickup
    • Shipping Update
  • Search
  • Support