The Statue in the Garden

-It's not my intention to write a paper about you, - says the visitor to Le Petomane, the famous showman of 19th-century France, -but, rather, to ask you to take me as your pupil in that inimitable art of which monsieur is both master and forerunner.- So begins this beautiful and imaginative novella. The visitor is the well-known Dr. Charles Beauclair, a reputable scientist. Why would Beauclair want to learn the skills of Le Petomane, who earns his living by breaking wind in front of a public? And who is that lady in gray he meets at the Jardin de Plantes? And what role does Mademoiselle Liane de Pougy, the celebrated courtesan, play in this drama of passions and intrigues?