Jurgen

A classic comic fantasy novel, once banned. Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice is a 1919 fantasy book by James Branch Cabell - the eighth among some fifty-two books written by this author - which gained fame (or notoriety) shortly after its publication. It is a humorous romp through a mediaeval cosmos, including a send-up of Arthurian legend and excursions to heaven and hell as in The Divine Comedy. Cabell's work is recognized as a landmark in the creation of the comic fantasy novel, influencing Terry Prachett and many others. The eponymous hero, who considers himself a "monstrous clever fellow," embarks on a journey through ever more fantastic realms in a search for a parodized version of the chivalrous courtly love. Everywhere he goes, he meets the acquaintance of rather eccentric knights and damsels, in an acerbic satire of contemporary America. Jurgen gets the attention of the Lady of the Lake, Queen Guinevere, and even the Devil's wife. The novel became more widely known after the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice attempted to bring a prosecution for obscenity, and the printing plates were seized on January 4, 1920. The case went on for two years before Cabell and his publisher, Robert M. McBride, won: the "indecencies" were double entendres that also had a perfectly decent interpretation, though it appeared that what had actually offended the prosecution most was the work's mocking expression of philosophy, including a jest about the nature of papal infallibility.