WINNER
OF THE 2011 RAINBOW LITERARY AWARD
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Amos Lassen on "Benedetto" and Marten Weber
"If you love a good erotic read, this is most definitely a book for you and to make it even better, Weber is a terrific writer. But there is more—this is a wonderfully intelligent book and excellent literature. We get a look at the church and see its influence on the lives of the people and on European politics. Benedetto turned to the church as he felt the need for a higher power, as a place to get direction and guidance, yet Weber also shows us the hypocrisy of the institution and how it controlled those who followed it.
"Another interesting aspect that we see here concerns the way women were regarded and treated and we see that by being considered chattel they were forced to cede to the demands of men. And that was somewhat true of gay men as well. The story is absolutely fascinating but even more fascinating is the author’s writing. He is witty and his command of English prose is incredible. He has created a wonderful literary character with Benedetto who aside from being exceptionally handsome (and accommodating) is also a kind benevolent person who is in love with his boyfriend but cannot help himself to partake of gay sex when the opportunity arises (and it arises over and over again). http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=14526
No doubt you have heard of Casanova, the famous seducer of countless women, and maybe you’ve seen the movie, or read the account of his life. But did you know he had a gay brother?
Benedetto, a few years Giacomo’s junior, was pressed into service of the Church, to follow the famous lover of women through the courts of Europe. On the way he had amorous adventures with countless men, but, unlike his brother, fell in love and kept alive a romantic relationship with a strapping German soldier over time and distance.
Benedetto Casanova’s (fictional) memoirs were discovered only in 1881, when an English traveler rummaging through a private library in Rome found them glued to the pages of a book. They were written in Italian and have never before been published in English.
Marten Weber delivers a wonderful translation of this challenging text, full of linguistic cunning and his usual talent for breathtaking eroticism.
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Reader Reviews
Read the full Benedetto Review by The Queer Chronicle
Would you rather read well written historical fiction examining the values, beliefs and manners of the period, as well as how they remain relevant and in many ways little changed in today's society, OR...a really good bawdy edge of your seat adventure that just happens to excel in man on man eroticism? Benedetto Casanova - The Memoirs manages to be both and to do it exceedingly well! My introduction to Marten Weber was via the reading of Shayno. I was impressed with his literary style, transcending "mere" homo-eroticism to become beautiful literature and he does not fail that same standard in Benedetto Casanova.
Weber explores with a keen eye the involvement of the Church in life and in politics. He explores man's NEED for a higher power, for guidance and direction, and at the same time hones in on the, sometimes necessary some times not, hypocritical nature of that same church; a double edged sword remaining essential to man's spiritual evolution.
Another message so prevalent is the roles and the treatment of women, and to a lesser degree gays, throughout the centuries. All that said, Benedetto's sexual escapades across Europe, his endless adventures make for some "hard" night reading. Trust me here, keep a warm wash cloth nearby and plan to do lots of reading aloud to your bedmates! I applaud Marten Weber, again, for presenting, important and timeless social issues in a form that is just too much fun to read. If school books had been this much fun I'd have been a star student! (I wish I could watch you reading about the twins for the first time. Or the soldiers. Or the power bottom.) : Gary Benner
Weber is an incredible writer. He has a wonderful command of the English language: his turn of phrase is often pithy and succinct, and he makes use of a large vocabulary that had me using my Kindle's dictionary function fairly regularly. I often found the narrator's comments hilariously funny. Benedetto is, quite simply, adorable. Loving and kind-hearted and naïve without being annoying, not to mention wholeheartedly devoted to the man he falls in love with, even when the two are apart for a period of many years with nothing more than a few letters exchanged between them now and then.
It's obvious that the author researched the story's historical time period in depth. He paints a well-rounded and sumptuously detailed picture of a large number of European cities during the 18th century. And the best part, for me, is that Weber details not just the parties and the opera houses and the drawing-rooms of polite society (which are so often depicted in modern works about that time period), but also the clandestine meetings between men who had to hide their sexual nature for fear of torture or death. The 1700s were hardly a good time for a man to reveal his desire for his own sex, yet the book doesn't dwell on the hardships of Benedetto's situation: it focuses instead on the cheeky methods by which he identifies like-minded men and manages to surround himself by them. : Charly T. Anchor
