The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is a 1973 comic adventure novel, with a touch of romance, by William Goldman.

Note on the text

The book affects to be an abridgement of an older version by "S. Morgenstern", which was originally a satire of the excesses of European royalty. Goldman "remembered" the book as it was narrated to him by his father as an exciting adventure tale, without the complex political overtones. His work is a recreation of the abridgement of his father. The book, in fact, is entirely Goldman's work, and Morgenstern and his "original version" never existed. Nor is Goldman's family accurately described in the book. He has two daughters, not a son, and his wife is not a psychologist. The countries Florin and Guilder do not exist and never have, although, prior to the advent of the euro, both were units of currency – the same unit of currency, in fact – from The Netherlands and a common term for a 2 shilling piece in pre-decimal U.K. They remain legal currency in the Netherlands Antilles to this day. Goldman carried the joke further by publishing another book called The Silent Gondoliers (about why the gondoliers of Venice no longer sing to their passengers) under S. Morgenstern's byline. The Vizzini family from The Princess Bride also makes an appearance in this book.

Related Topics:
S. Morgenstern - Florin - Guilder - Euro - The Netherlands - 2 shilling piece - Netherlands Antilles - The Silent Gondoliers - Gondoliers - Venice

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The device of claiming that a book is a pre-existing work that the author merely discovered and edited is an old one, which continues to be used by authors as widely separated as Spanish writer Cervantes, Italian literary novelist Umberto Eco, British fantasy writer Mary Gentle, and American detective fiction author Laurie R. King. (See also false document, frame tale.)

Related Topics:
Cervantes - Umberto Eco - Fantasy - Mary Gentle - Detective fiction - Laurie R. King - False document - Frame tale

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