Luigi the Last

“And I’m pissed off with the people. Why don’t they revolt? I could have them fired at, they wouldn’t, even then. Why? This tiger here, he doesn’t revolt either. Neither he, nor they. Why?” Comedian Tibor Bödőcs was born in Zalaegerszeg, western Hungary, in 1982. In 2017 he kicked in the door of Hungarian literature with a book of literary parodies, while his first novel took the reader to a pub, and his second, Luigi the Last, takes place in the circus ring. Both his first and third book won the Libri Readers’Choice Award. The Circus empire of Hetticania is preparing for a jubilee, to celebrate thirty years of King Luigi’s rule. And there’s so much to celebrate! Thanks to the former Ringmaster, everything in Hetticania is coming up roses – quite literally: rose plantations cover the whole country (so no one is unemployed), fault-finders find faults only among themselves (unless they are abroad) – how could anyone of sound mind slander the very epitome of health, honesty, beauty, patriotism, and masculine power? It’s an important, strenuous day for King Luigi, but he can cope with anything, even after so many years. He screws (almost), gives a dashing interview, mingles with his people, eats and drinks, consults with his chief adviser, screws (indeed), and more. And, well, by the end of it, he becomes a little tired and emotional. After all, he is only human, despite what Hetticanian legend might say. This novel by Tibor Bödőcs, the most popular Hungarian comedian and one of the most popular Hungarian writers, is an outrageous satire about a country where a genuine genius of populism reigns with the simplicity of a swish of an axe.