Cabaret Book

The complete history of cabaret, vividly told and enhanced with a marvelous array of illustrationsThis captivating book presents a uniquely comprehensive cultural history of cabaret, where the most radical of artists, poets, writers, musicians, and theater directors have gathered since 1881. Lisa Appignanesi takes us to the original cabaret—the smoke-filled rooms of the Chat Noir in Paris that served as a meeting place for the avant-garde and a laboratory of subversion against the establishment. She then follows the journey of the cabaret across Europe and to the United States, tracing each development in cabaret history to the present day.This much revised and updated edition of Appignanesi’s classic work is enriched with materials that have become more accessible in the post-Soviet era. It also features a variety of new illustrations from both East and West. The book provides a lively look at all aspects of cabaret, where art and entertainment join to mock and provoke, and where radical artistic, literary, and political ideas have found expression for more than 120 years.Lisa Appignanesi is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of many books, widely translated, including the acclaimed Freud’s Women (with John Forrester), a portrait of Simone de Beauvoir, the highly praised memoir Losing the Dead, and the novel The Memory Man, as well as such best-selling thrillers as Sanctuary and The Dead of Winter. She has made and presented a variety of programs for radio and television in Great Britain and France. She is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.Read More