<DIV>Seducer, gambler, necromancer, swindler, Good Samaritan, spy, swashbuckler, self-made gentleman, entrepreneur, wit, poet, translator, philosopher, and general bon vivant, Giacomo Casanova was not only the most notorious lover the Western world has known, but also a storyteller of the first order. Since he lived a life richer and stranger than most fictions, the tale of his own adventures is his most compelling story, but his memoir remained-at twelve volumes-unfinished at the time of his death. In these selections culled from authoritative French texts are all the highlights of Casanova's life: his youth in Venice as a precocious ecclesiastic; carousing and dabbling in the occult; imprisonment and thrilling escape; travels and encounters with major literary figures and world leaders; and, of course, many amorous conquests, ranging from noblewomen to nuns to cobblers' daughters, all of them willing partners in the adventures of his life.<BR><BR>The first new translation since the 1960s, this Penguin Classics edition will provide readers with the most famous episodes as well as the overall shape of a monumental work in one beautiful, unique volume.<p><BR><i>Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less</i></p></div>