From Library Journal
Roubaud followed up his initial Hortense release with this farce (published here in 1989) in which the police try to foil the plot to kidnap the title character. LJ's reviewer commented that "those who decide to read this book on a bus or train should be forewarned: uncontrollable bursts of laughter will seize you at any time" (LJ 6/15/89). Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Columbus Dispatch
"Quirky, mischievous, off-the-wall. . . . Roubaud is not your ordinary writer. And that's his extraordinary attraction."

The Atlantic
"Impishly fantastic."

Colin Walters, Washington Times
"Clever. . . . There's plenty of fun to go around, and it is a pleasure to be led by Mr. Roubaud."

Michale Dirda, Washington Post
"A witty and sexy page-turner."

Kenneth Atchity, Los Angeles Times 12-13-89
"Roubaud seduces with felicitousand felinehumor . . . evoking the spirits of his countryman Rabelais, of Flann O'Brien, Jorge Luis Borges, Gilbert Sorrentino, Julio Cortazar, Umberto Eco, Tom Robbins."

Colin Walters, Washington Times 7-17-89
"Clever and cream-puff light."

Barry Schechter, Chicago Tribune 7-23-89
"If Mel Brooks, Lewis Carroll and Alfred Jarry were forced at gun point to collaborate on a mystery, the result might be something like Hortense is Abducted. . . . It's a grand stunt."

Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World 7-30-89
"A witty and sexy page-turner."

Book Description
The second installment in Roubaud's popular and widely acclaimed "Hortense" series opens with a murder of a dog at the Church of Saint-Gudule. Chief Inspector Blognard and his sidekick Arapede are on the scene, as is our narrator, Jacques Roubaud. While they track down the Poldevian criminal, teenage girls argue the relative merits of the boy bands Dew-Pon Dew-Val and Landau Valley, Pere Sinouls tries to program a computer to take his place at the organ so that he can continue to practice Beeranalysis, and the clientele of the Gudule Bar debate the reality of Infinity. Time is running out for the Inspector, however, as the murderer puts into action his plot to kidnap our heroine Hortense, a 22-year-old philosophy student whose buttocks are so beautiful their description has been banned from the printed page.

Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)

About the Author
A professor of mathematics at the University of Paris X Nanterre and a long time member of Oulipo, the Workshop for Potential Literature, Jacques Roubaud is the author of several novels and works of poetry.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On the sixth prie-dieu of the ninth row of the Church of Sainte-Gudule the corpse is discovered. Chief inspector Blognard is on the scene, as is our narrator, now married to Hortense, the delectable star of Roubaud's first novel "Our Beautiful Heroine". But will they succeed in detecting the criminal—perhaps the same?—before his plot to kidnap the lovely bride succeeds? Or perhaps Carlotta, the fifteen-year-old redhead, her mysterious black cat Hotello, and the Poldevian pony prince Cyrandozoi will prevail where lesser men have failed?The delightful imaginary world brought into being in Jacques Roubaud's first novel comes to uproarious life again in this sequel. While the murder investigation is afoot, teenage girls argue the relative merits of the rock groups Dew-Pon Dew-Val and Landau Valley, Pere Sinouls tries to program a computer to take his place at the organ so that he can continue to practice Beeranalysis, and the clientele of the Gudule Bar debate the reality of Infinity. The author's whimsical touch and deft craftsmanship intermingle reflections on the novel, asides to the reader, and a rich gallery of comic characters enmeshed in a peculiar intrigue that spirals like the Poldevian coat of arms—a snail.

"A witty and sexy page-turner." (Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World 7-30-89)

"If Mel Brooks, Lewis Carroll and Alfred Jarry were forced at gunpoint to collaborate on a mystery, the result might be something like Hortense is Abducted. . . . It's a grand stunt." (Barry Schechter, Chicago Tribune 7-23-89)

"Clever and cream-puff light." (Colin Walters, Washington Times 7-17-89)

"Those who decide to read this book on a bus or train should be forewarned: uncontrollable bursts of laughter will seize you at any time!" (Library Journal starred review 6-15-89)

"Roubaud seduces with felicitous—and feline—humor . . . evoking the spirits of his countryman Rabelais, of Flann O'Brien, Jorge Luis Borges, Gilbert Sorrentino, Julio Cortazar, Umberto Eco, Tom Robbins." (Kenneth Atchity, Los Angeles Times 12-13-89)

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Roubaud followed up his initial Hortense release with this farce (published here in 1989) in which the police try to foil the plot to kidnap the title character. LJ's reviewer commented that "those who decide to read this book on a bus or train should be forewarned: uncontrollable bursts of laughter will seize you at any time" (LJ 6/15/89). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal