This ribald, calamitous novel is based on the real life of Francois Villon, a 15th-century French poet-maudit, burglar, and vagabond.

Adopted at age seven by a distant uncle, a benevolent and pious chaplain at the Church of St. Benoit, Francois grows from a bright and curious boy to a young man whose appetite for revelry and mischief conspires to keep him on the wrong side of the law.

From the theft of the “Devil’s Fart”—a huge rock that serves as a property boundary—to spite a notoriously self-righteous busybody who has made it her mission to rid Paris of its prostitutes, to joining forces with a gang of criminals while on the run from the law after the accidental killing of a priest, Villon spends four years wandering the countryside and villages outside of Paris. In the meantime, his verses become as well known in the royal courts of France as they are in the seediest taverns and brothels.

Although several translations of Villon's poems have appeared in recent years, a novel has not been written about him in more than fifty years. More than a generation of readers is unfamiliar with this legendary character. Our Mad Brother Villon brings the legend back to life.