In this entertaining book, a playwright and theater critic presents up-to-date and witty translations of three classic comedies of French theater: Alain-Rene Lesage's satire Turcaret, Pierre Marivaux's love comedy The Triumph of Love, and Eugene Labiche's farce Eating Crow. James Magruder's translations capture the humor and imagination of the original texts and significantly extend the English-language repertory of French comedies.

Magruder's enlightening introduction sets each play within the context of its author's oeuvre and the theatrical culture of its time....