Lawrence Durrell - Sauve Qui Peut. Stories (humor, epub)

Book 3 in the Antrobus series

For the British delegation to Vulgaria, no problem is too small to become a crisis in this lively story collection of diplomatic misadventure
In the words of Antrobus, master diplomat in the King’s service, diplomacy was once “a quiet and restful trade carried on in soothing inanity among a hundred shady legations and embassies all over the globe.” What changed? What caused this most noble profession to fall from grace? Women, of course. A diplomatic incident begins brewing as soon as the lovely new French ambassador—or is it ambassadress?—arrives in Vulgaria. One of the British delegation is instantly besotted, and about to begin his pursuit when a rival appears in the form of roguish Italian diplomat Bonzo di Porco. Because these are servants of the most advanced governments in the world, they settle their dispute rationally: with swords. Jealousy, selfishness, swordplay? All are commonplace in Antrobus’s embassy. In these nine juicy tales, the King’s diplomats may seldom be diplomatic, but they always manage to get the job done—with or without bloodshed.

Born in Jalandhar, British India, in 1912 to Indian-born British colonials, Lawrence Durrell was a critically hailed and beloved novelist, poet, humorist, and travel writer best known for the Alexandria Quartet novels, which were ranked by the Modern Library as among the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century. A passionate and dedicated writer from an early age, Durrell’s prolific career also included the groundbreaking Avignon Quintet, whose first novel, Monsieur (1974), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and whose third novel, Constance (1982), was nominated for the Booker Prize. He also penned the celebrated travel memoir Bitter Lemons of Cyprus (1957), which won the Duff Cooper Prize. Durrell corresponded with author Henry Miller for forty-five years, and Miller influenced much of his early work, including a provocative and controversial novel, The Black Book (1938). Durrell died in France in 1990.