About Simone: A Sequel to The Story of the Eye:
Georges Bataille appended an “Outline of a Sequel to Story of the Eye,” but he never even began work on that manuscript. Now, nearly one hundred years later, Cavallaro presents a sequel based on Bataille’s sketches, incorporating the long-noted influence of the Marquis de Sade, and continuing the use of metaphor and symbolism. It is a blasphemous work, yet one with undeniable Christian imagery as well.
The heroine of this novel moves from exhibitionism and sacrilege to sadomasochism, and thence to the unspeakable horrors of prisons in Mussolini’s Italy and Franco’s Spain. However, she remains haunted by one striking image. Will this lead her to autassassinophilia and destruction or to ultimate salvation?
WARNING: Some readers may find this novel disturbing. Notwithstanding the validity of the historical settings, the narrative nevertheless includes scenes of violence and torture, and is designed more for those who enjoyed Bataille’s work, the Marquis de Sade’s Juliette, and comparable literature.
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Author Bio:
Lenny Cavallaro is a “Renaissance man” steeped in the classics: Greek tragedy, Shakespearean drama, and classical music. He has also boxed, earned a third-degree black belt in karate, run marathons, won chess tournaments, and practiced hypnosis and reiki professionally.
Cavallaro’s earlier fiction includes TROJAN DIALOGUES; THE MEMOIRS OF DIOMEDES and THE GREATEST CHAMPION WHO NEVER WAS. His interests in Shakespeare and Sophocles spawned TWO OEDIPAL PLAYS—the one-act HAMLET, REVISITED and ODYSSEUS ACANTHOPLEX, a restoration of fragments by the great Greek tragedian.
In 2022, White Bird Publications released the first two volumes of THE PASSION OF ELENA BIANCHI, and (following the publisher’s demise) the author has since uploaded the last pair. SHERLOCK HOLMES… was released by Russell Enterprises in 2022 and was followed by a Jewish-paranormal novella, THE IBBUR’S TALE (2023) and SIMONE (2024). Cavallaro also “edited and revised” PAGANINI AGITATO, a novel by Ann Abelson (Fomite Press, 2023).
An accomplished pianist and composer, Cavallaro performed Bach’s Six Partitas to the highest critical acclaim in Carnegie Recital Hall and achieved even more recognition as a composer. In 2015, he wrote a conjectural “completion” of Contrapunctus XIV from Bach’s unfinished masterpiece, THE ART OF THE FUGUE.