9-18-25 — Latham’s Last Words

THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS

By: Guy Endore

"But the odor of blood was in the air. The feel of approaching death roused the worst that hides in man."

Fantastic book. A werewolf story that follows the life of Bertrand Caillet, the werewolf of Paris. Beginning in medieval times with his ancestors up through the revolutionary era of France, you'll get not only a story of a person "cursed" from birth but also a lesson in French history.

The narrator changes throughout the story. The first narrator is an unnamed PhD student who comes across a script written by a man chronicling his nephews lycanthropy. The second narrator is Aymar Galliez who was the author of the script. In some places it switches abruptly, but is easily discernable from the second narrator.

For a book written in 1933, there's a lot of dark subject matter, and blatant sexuality. Incest, sexual misconduct of clergy and how the church covered it up and desecration of the graves of the newly buried.

I learned a lot in this book, as well as being entertained. The werewolf panic of the 16th and 17th century was just as horrible as the Salem witch trials with hundreds of people being executed. I learned that zoo animals were killed to feed the rich during the Siege of Paris. Elephant brothers Castor and Pollox were slaughtered and their meat sold for 142 francs per pound.

Towards the end of the book the debate of if werewolves are real or of it's just a mental disorder makes you question if Bertrand was really a creature.

Find it here: https://a.co/d/eg5Uy6z