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The Enchantress of Florence: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $13.99
You Save: $12.01 (46%)
New (59) Used (17) Collectible (17) from $13.99
Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 673
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0375504338
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780375504334
ASIN: 0375504338
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW HARDCOVER WITH DUST JACKET! (NOT a book club edition) No remainder marks, writing, bends, folds, rips, creases, etc. Usually ships next day
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: Trying to describe a Salman Rushdie novel is like trying to describe music to someone who has never heard it--you can fumble with a plot summary but you won't be able to convey the wonder of his dazzling prose or the imaginative complexity of his vision. At its heart, The Enchantress of Florence is about the power of story--whether it is the imagined life of a Mughal queen, or the devastating secret held by a silver-tongued Florentine. Make no mistake, it is Rushdie who is the true "enchanter" of this story, conjuring readers into his gilded fairy tale from the very first sentence: "In the day's last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked like a sea of molten gold." At once bawdy, gorgeous, gory, and hilarious, The Enchantress of Florence is a study in contradiction, highlighted in its barbarian philosopher-king who detests his bloodthirsty heritage even while he carries it out. Full of rich sentences running nearly the length of a page, Rushdie's 10th novel blends fact and fable into a challenging but satisfying read. --Daphne Durham
Product Description
A tall, yellow-haired, young European traveler calling himself “Mogor dell’Amore,” the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the Emperor Akbar, lord of the great Mughal empire, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the imperial capital, a tale about a mysterious woman, a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, and her impossible journey to the far-off city of Florence.
The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world. It is the story of two cities, unknown to each other, at the height of their powers–the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the brilliant Akbar the Great wrestles daily with questions of belief, desire, and the treachery of his sons, and the equally sensual city of Florence during the High Renaissance, where Niccolo Machiavelli takes a starring role as he learns, the hard way, about the true brutality of power.
Vivid, gripping, irreverent, bawdy, profoundly moving, and completely absorbing, The Enchantress of Florence is a dazzling book full of wonders by one of the world’s most important living writers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 Not overly impressed September 5, 2008
I can't say it's a complete dud, but this book just was not a barn-burner for me. I finished it but it definitely was not one that kept me in anticipation of reading it. Guess I expected way more out of it than what I actually got. I don't know if anyone else noticed this (I didn't read all the reviews) but I sure picked up on his using other "characters" from other stories/novels - like, "The Three Muskateers" as one example.
Anyway, would I recommend it to someone? No. But that's just me and my opinion.
 reckless reality over fantasy September 1, 2008
A book entirely born out of ego. Written by the author, FOR the author.
Color and movement are wonderful literary pleasures, however, overuse just breeds mindless static and exhaustion.
"Whats it all about, Rushdee" August 31, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book, not that I am a fan of the author, but the title was interesting as I am a fan of Italian Rennaisance and have visited and fell in love with Florence.
This book was, at best, pathetic. I read, painfully, a few chapters and then tossed it.
Karl Olson
Forced Myself to Continue August 31, 2008
I didn't like Shalimar the Clown and liked this book even less. I gave thanks for all those blank pages which helped to speed me along. It seemed like a book of lists. Everything and everybody was given not one adjective descriptor but a list of attributes. Seemed like a ploy, along with blank pages, to make a longer book than originally written. Have to justify the $26 with volume if not quality I guess.
Don't care August 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just read about half of this novel and finally said to myself, I don't care. I don't care about the characters or what happens to them. I don't care about the story since I am not sure if there even is a story. I don't know what to think of it. I'm confused and I don't care. So why am I still reading it? I am not anymore. I stayed with it this long because of the author.
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