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Summary
Summary
Across the world there are many an artiste -
But none so outrageous as Joe, the Fartiste.
The Fartiste doesn't sing, he doesn't dance, and he doesn't act. But that doesn't stop him from taking the stage at Paris's famed Moulin Rouge, where he performs his much-loved act for celebrities and royalty with the funniest talent of all - Joe is the man who has perfected the art of the fart.
Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer bring new wind to their mostly true story about "the man who made his pants dance," which is perfectly matched with Boris Kulikov's explosive art.
Author Notes
Kathleen Krull (1952-2021) was the author of over 100 books, including No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader ; A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull ; Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought) ; The Only Woman in the Photo ; and other acclaimed biographies for young readers. Visit her website at KathleenKrull.com.
Boris Kulikov, a former set and costume designer in St. Petersburg, Russia, was chosen as a Flying Start by Publishers Weekly. He has also illustrated Morris the Artist by Lore Segal, The Perfect Friend by Yelena Romanova, and Carnival of Animals by John Lithgow. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Fartiste revives the memory of performance artist Joseph Pujol, who turned the Moulin Rouge on its ear with his talented backside. The narrative breezily explains how a young Pujol discovered that he could command his bowels to do all kinds of things. His symphonic farting was purely recreational until, as an adult struggling to support 10 children, he ventured into Paris and took the artistic community by storm. Much of his act's success apparently relied on his deadpan delivery; his hilariously expressionless face allowed him to play straight man to the low (but impressive) comedy provided by his butt. Eyewitness accounts and film footage report that he could carry tunes, make animal noises, extinguish flames, and more. (Thomas Edison filmed a few seconds of the act for the Paris Exhibition of 1900.) Written in well-rhymed couplets, this gleefully tasteless tale reads easily. Kulikov's illustrations allude to the age of vaudevillian stage performance, painted playbills, and fire-hazard footlights that bronzed everything nearest them in golden warmth. (Predictably, the backs of Pujol's calves, knees, and thighs are most often depicted aglow.) The name-dropping, anecdotal epilogue spans four pages and explains Pujol's real-life notoriety and legitimacy among the most celebrated figures of the day. It's a kitschy, irreverent, silly true story, and what child doesn't love to hear the word "fart" spoken aloud?-Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
True story: a boy discovers he has an unusual command over the muscles in his intestines. With lots of practice and ambition, Joseph Pujol becomes the Fartiste, the fin-de-siecle sensation of the legendary Moulin Rouge. "A bit of Beethoven, a song by Mozart," write Krull (the Lives of... series) and Brewer (You Must Be Joking!) in their rhyming quatrains, "A Debussy ditty--all through a fart." (Respectful of their audience's curiosity, the authors also note, "his flatulent actions completely lacked smell.") Clearly tickled by the subject matter, Kulikov (The Castle on Hester Street) employs a brassy palette and broad, earthy expressions reminiscent of vintage theatrical posters; he captures both Pujol's consummate showmanship and the joie de vivre of the gas-lit (no pun intended) bohemian world that embraced him. As for the famous flatulence, even the politest company will find its visual interpretation apropos: Kulikov draws each breaking of wind as a cross between a Botticelli-esque cloud and a comic-strip text balloon. The don't-miss afterword discloses that Pujol's actual stage name was Le Petomane (the Fartomaniac) and that his fans included--mais oui!--Sigmund Freud. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) The Gas We Pass gets put to practical use. Krull and husband Brewer must have known they'd struck picture-book-biography gold when they discovered Joseph Pujol, a Moulin Rouge performer renowned for "blasting out tunes from his own derriere." As detailed in the playful rhyming text, Pujol first realized he had this unique gift when, at age eight, he dove into the ocean near his hometown of Marseille, sucking water and air into his sphincter. "One minute, by chance, he was flexing his gut. / The next, he had sounds coming out of his butt!" Kulikov's mixed-media paintings convey the gaiety of turn-of-the-century Parisian theater and put forth creative representations -- firework-style blasts, heart-shaped clouds, etc. -- of Pujol's gaseous emissions. Careful observers will find Freud, whom Krull and Brewer identify in their afterword as a Pujol fan, watching a performance with furrowed-brow intensity. The other audience members, apparently not busy formulating theories of anal fixation, first look at Pujol in wide-eyed astonishment, then laugh uproariously -- a response likely to be shared by most readers under twelve.From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
When it comes to expelling gas, don't equate the Fartiste with Walter the Farting Dog. Joseph Pujol was the real thing, a Frenchman who startled and entertained with his abilities while passing gas. As Krull recounts in indefatigable rhyme, Joe realizes his talent at a young age; later, in the army, his buddies fall on the floor, as he squeezes out some songs or the loud sounds of war. For a while, Joe is content to be a baker, but with eight children to feed, he decides to take his show on the road. A visit to the Moulin Rouge turns into a stint as one of the showplace's great attractions, and he entertains not only his fellow countrymen but also the likes of Belgium's King Leopold and Sigmund Freud. Kids who think regular old farting is funny will be delighted with Pujol's ability to elevate the genre. Authors Krull and Brewer easily find humor in gassiness, and artist Kulikov is right behind them (so to speak), presenting images such as gas clouds filled with muscial notes (Pujol can play Debussy in farts). An afterword cites the facts in the whole amazing story.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2008 Booklist
