The Short Reign of Pippin IV

A late, playful satire by the Nobel Prize–winning author of *The Grapes of Wrath*, this novel imagines a modern France that, weary of political instability, restores its monarchy and plucks an obscure descendant to become king. The mild-mannered new ruler soon finds himself a pawn of politicians, industrial interests, and international pressures, as tradition collides with media spectacle and Cold War realities. With wit and irony, the story explores power, nationalism, public opinion, and the uneasy fit between idealism and authority. Both light in tone and sharp in observation, it offers an unusual glimpse of its author’s comic side while retaining his keen eye for human folly and political absurdity.