Cabaret

This book presents a comprehensive cultural history of cabaret, where the most radical of artists, poets, writers, musicians, and theatre directors have gathered since 1881. Lisa Appignanesi takes us to the original cabaret - the smoke-filled rooms of the Chat Noir in Paris that served as a meeting place for the avant-garde and a laboratory of subversion against the establishment. She then follows the journey of the cabaret across Europe, through its satirical Weimar peak, and to the US and Britain, vividly tracing each development in cabaret history. Bringing that history to the present day, Appignanesi discusses the comedy/satire wave in the UK and US and examines the recent splintering of cabaret into its component parts, from comedy to political song to late night lifestyle.

Lisa Appignanesi is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of many books, widely translated, including the acclaimed Freud's Women (with John Forrester), a portrait of Simone de Beauvoir, the highly praised memoir Losing the Dead, and the novel The Memory Man, as well as such best-selling thrillers as Sanctuary and The Dead of Winter. She has made and presented a variety of programs for radio and television in Great Britain and France. She is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.