Books: Capital Offense

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Not that it matters; by then, Edmond too, has lost most of his wits and all of his money. He has also put his psychology into reverse: instead of trying to behave like a normal human being, he now struggles to become a normal dog. French and English reviewers of this blunt and ferocious book have likened 32-year-old Author Dutourd to Voltaire and Jonathan Swift, and have sifted out various interpretations of the Dutourd message. Dutourd himself is no great help: "I am not trying to prove anything," he says— "merely to tell a story."