Riddle of the World

Published for the first time, David Frenchís The Riddle of the World, remains a classic of the Canadian stage.AKStockbroker Ron and ex-priest Steve are two new singles who get together to console themselves after being abandoned by their mates. Through a comic series of false starts, disastrous one-night stands, dead-end blind dates and absurd attempts to reconnect with their former lovers, they are forced to come to terms with their fragile natures as men in a world with few signposts of male identity left standing.AK Initially blaming others for ìtaking their partners away,î Ron fails repeatedly to see and come to terms with his overwhelming possessiveness; while Steve gradually learns to embrace his own new found and deeply sublimated gay sexuality.AK ìThe Riddle of the World,î a fragment of a poem by Alexander Pope, resonates throughout this arch comedy of manners as it revisits the eternal struggle of the flesh and the spirit on the road to the charactersí discovery of the true nature of love. Like all of Popeís characters, Ron and Steve are engaged in a mock battle with the social phantoms of their time, in a ìsexual revolutionî wherein every higher purpose is unmasked as a conceit of self-interest.AKAKDavid Frenchís Jitters, 1949, One Crack Out, Salt Water Moon, Silver Dagger, Soldierís Heart, That Summer, and his translation of Anton Chekhovís The Seagull are also available from TalonbooksFrench, David is the author of 'Riddle of the World' with ISBN 9780889224872 and ISBN 0889224870.