A Search for the King

Kidnapped and held to ransom by Duke Leopold of Austria after the Third Crusade, Richard the Lion Heart, it is said, was found by his faithful troubadour Blondel de Neel. But how? And what trials did the faithful and long-suffering lyricist have to overcome to find his king?

Gore Vidal paints a broad, colorful, and poignant picture of a man searching for his master; for the symbolic king who is the goal of man’s eternal quest; for the spiritual centre of his life.

©1950 Gore Vidal (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A great romp by a young Gore Vidal

This short tale is wonderful in the way it flirts with homosexuality. Written at a time when homosexuality was not widely accepted by the public, as Vidal discovered from the reception of his earlier novel "The City and the Pillar", Vidal lightly masks the themes of male love and relationships in this story based on King Richard I of England and a French knight and troubador, Blondel. The story is full of magical realism including scenes with dragons, unicorns, giants and werewolves. Yet these magical episodes are treated as if they are commonplace and nothing out of the ordinary. Fanciful and highly imaginative, yet also realistic and historically accurate, this is a very entertaining and engaging short read.