I finished reading Allen Kurzweil's first novel today, just as the sun was going down. A Case of Curiosities is the story of Claude Page, an 18th century watchmaker, tinkerer and mechanical genius. It's a historical novel that is entertaining, with plenty of intellectual humor, jokes, puns and clever devices. It is erotic, naughty, bawdy and lewd. It is also a clever constructed book. The structure of the actual book follows the structure of the story inside. The book contains 60 chapters over 360 pages, a nod to the timepieces in the plot and clockwork form of the novel.

This is the 2nd novel of Kurzweil's I have had the pleasure of reading. I read The Grand Complication when it was published last year. A Case of Curiosities foreshadows The Grand Complication by mentioning the famous timepiece that Marie Antoinette had commissioned from the 18th-century watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet.

I heartily recommend both books if you enjoy reading something that makes you think. Kurzweil will intrigue you, teach you, and take you on a journey to the past that feels authentic.


A Case of Curiosities


The Grand Complication