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In 445 B.C., Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is the Persian ambassador to the city of Athens. He has a rather caustic appreciation of his situation: "I am blind. But I am not deaf. Because of the incompleteness of my misfortune, I was obliged yesterday to listen for nearly six hours to a self-styled historian whose account of what the Athenians like to call 'the Persian Wars' was nonsense of a sort that were I less old and more privileged, I would have risen to my seat at the Odeon and scandalized all Athens by answering him." Having thus dismissed Herodotus, Cyrus then dictates his life story to his nephew, Democritus, with similar disdain for the Greeks--whom we in the modern world have come to view as the progenitors of civilization, but whom Cyrus considers to be bad-smelling rabble.

Of course, Cyrus Spitama speaks with a very modern, ironic voice supplied to him by Gore Vidal--and the political intrigues in which Cyrus finds himself immersed are likewise familiar territory for fans of Vidal's historical fiction. But the narrator's delightfully wicked observations are the icing on a narrative of truly epic scope--out of his desire to understand the origins of the world, Cyrus undertakes journeys to India, where he encounters disciples of the Buddha, and China, where he engages Confucius in philosophical conversation while the great sage fishes by the riverside. Creation offers insights into classical history laced with scintillating wit and narrative brio.

From Library Journal
Something old, something new: Vidal's classic, narrated by the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is being republished in an expanded edition that includes material from the original manuscript that never made its way into print.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence:
I AM BLIND. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
spring terrace play, caravan square, forest shack, premier knight, sacred haoma, five moral rules, life monad, long dominion, hereditary ministers, rain altars, sixteen kingdoms, divine sage, lord ambassador, sunless place, universal monarch, incomparable one, great king, horse sacrifice, sea palace, court chamberlain, baronial families, royal glory, ivory chair, eightfold way Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prince Jeta, Fan Ch'ih, Baron K'ang, Master Li, Jan Ch'iu, Queen Atossa, Cyrus Spitama, Yen Hui, Indus River, King Bimbisara, Yang Huo, Cyrus the Great, Ionian Greek, Lord Duke, Duke Tan, General Pericles, Yellow Emperor, Asia Minor, King Pasenadi, Lord Prince, Ahura Mazdah, Lord Baron, Lord King, Great Queen, Master K'ung New!
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