The Sixteen Pleasures
by Robert Hellenga
List Price: $12.95
Pages: 369
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0385314698
Publisher: Delta
Robert Hellenga teaches English at Knox College in Illinois. He is the
recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two Illinois
Arts Council grants, and a PEN Fiction Award.
The Sixteen Pleasures
is Hellenga's first novel, for which he did extensive research in Florence
and took a bookbinding course at the Newbury Library. The idea of including
The Sixteen Pleasures in his fictional story of Margot Harrington
began in jest, as there are many, many jokes throughout English literature
on this erotic Renaissance book. Somewhere along the line, it became the
engine of the book. The character of Margot was inspired by Hellenga's
three daughters, all of whom have traveled extensively and told him of
their experiences.
It took Hellenga three years
to write The Sixteen Pleasures and another three to get it published.
He is currently doing research in Bologna, Italy, for his next novel.
He lives in Illinois with his wife and three daughters.
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