Tremble + Ennui

by Edgar Nicaud

A young couple in New Orleans wreak havoc as they try to live a life of luxury, despite having run out of money. Their misadventures cut a wide swath through New Orleans society from high to low.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976857405
• ISBN13: 9780976857402
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Coatpocket Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Fun reading from a chance library encounter.

This is a fun, short, novella; a quick pastime well worth the effort. I am not familiar with the 'Confederacy' book mentioned in the other review so I can't draw on that. I enjoy Kafka as much as the next person although I don't always 'GET' Kafka, if you know what I mean. To say this novella is Kafkaesque, in my opinion, is slightly insulting to the author. Unless that is what the author intended; in that case Bravo! to the pen named Nicaud. This thing, to me, is extremely reminiscent of another pen name: Mark Twain. I have always suspected that Franz Kafka was a Twain devotee but that fact was lost to Kafka translators. Oh well, opinions are like belly-buttons!

Suggestion: Gombrowicz

'Tremble & Ennui' gave a randy New Orleans spirit to my San Francisco evening. Another reviewer's reference to Kafka is a good one, and futher, my suggestion after this book is the Polish writer Gombrowicz- Either Ferdydurke or Cosmos. These books aren't widely-read in the US, but I love them as I love 'Tremble & Ennui'

One of the best American satires in years

If you imagine (pre-Katrina) New Orleans as a giant martini glass, there is no doubt that T & E are the optimal mixture of gin and vermouth, complementing each other throughout this mad-dash tale in perfect fashion. Is it a strange love story? Is it just the tale of two snotty drunks? It is both, and the conclusion of the tale delivers to each of this memorable pair exactly what they deserve. Some readers might say Nicaud's slashing satire set in New Orleans calls to mind the Pulitzer-winning "A Confederacy of Dunces." It certainly should. But Tremble and Ennui are more than just "A Confederacy of Drunks." Their adventures lead them to the heights and depths of New Orleans society, and their gin-tinged point of view aptly provides the biting observations that each of Nicaud's targets deserve -- from misguided welfare workers to out-of-touch and out-of-cash upper class elites to savvy martini-delivery street boys. Nicaud's deliberately dry writing delivery not only begs another "dry martini" reference, but it perfectly sets a faux-regal tone. For example, the tongue-in-cheek chapter titles -- "The Chef Gives the Party a Culinary Creation" -- recall Voltaire's "Candide" and Boccaccio's "The Decameron." Nicaud has revived this sardonic literary device to lend an aura of grandness to the farcical adventures of T & E. Nicaud is successful to the point that the narrative often reads as if he is writing for the decrepit, old-money elites of New Orleans with their taste for things ancient and musty. Of course, rather than write for their entertainment, he is skewering their limited view of the world with every weapon in his literary arsenal. T & E form a relentless and hilarious barrage on everything the fading elites stand for, while the circus-world of side characters variously parody ethics-challenged lawyers, famous chefs who have mastered nothing in the kitchen beyond the power of marketing, self-indulgent preservationists, and more. T & E is so engaging that I am recommending it to friends about to take a plane ride. Once you start, you will rip through it in the course of a four-hour round trip, and you'll end up not wanting to put the book down even while you are being wanded and de-shoed in security. You'll wonder what Ennui would do in that situation, and you'll start getting thirsty. Surely, he would not allow his perfectly mixed martini to be scrutinized on an X-ray belt, and he would NEVER suffer the indignity of a TSA wanding.

Lighter than Kafka... Quicker than the Confederacy

What an entertaining and well written book. I am a slow reader yet I almost finished Tremble + Ennui in one sitting. Edgar Nicaud has accomplished something very difficult and spectacular in Tremble + Ennui regarding tone. The whole book is very lighthearted, yet "Kafkaesque." Earlier this summer, I finished reading The Trial by Franz Kafka (another good book) and Kafka is one of the few authors that can capture that eerie feeling you have in the morning when you just wake up from a bizarre dream. Kafka's stories are obviously ridiculous yet somehow believable and frightening, the most famous being Gregor Sampson becoming a cockroach in "The Metamorphosis." Ed's book not only captures that same Kafka tone, but he trumps by making it lighthearted and funny. Ennui even suggests near the end "Perhaps you are in a nightmare?" Ed is a comic Kafka. I was very impressed. Ed reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. a bit too... there are a lot of goofy names and satirical happenstance, yet the story drives and moves. Ed does not overdo the absurdity though, like Confederacy of Dunces (which for me stalls with overdone satire). The story is set in New Orleans, from the slums all the way up to the mansions with everyone getting a little (or big) jab along the way: Chef Intesti-- a great satire of fame and/or being famous; Mrs. Hemoglobin-- the hypocrisy of the upper class regarding "work ethic" and "traditional values" (and grave robbing); The Social Worker with Quadruple PhDs-- this character killed me too with her political correctness. The motivations (or lack thereof) of Tremble and Ennui are equally ridiculous. They go after what many Americans live for: money and lust (and an extra dry martini). In short, Tremble + Ennui not only satirizes New Orleans society, strips it naked for all to see, but this little book satirizes America too. The whole Hurricane Katrina fiasco pulled the curtain back to reveal the true America for a couple weeks: media sensationalism, brutal racism and poverty, and an underbelly of lazy punks. Not many angels left around here. Tremble + Ennui shows you the same picture, but in a very lighthearted and entertaining way. We need more authors like Edgar Nicaud writing books. This guy is a real author and deserves support.