Rather than A Banned Book, Candide could equally have been A Book You Can Read In A Day or A Funny Book. From the opening chapter, when Candide's love interest Cunegonde sees Candide's tutor Pangloss engaged in "a lesson in experimental natural philosophy" with a chamber-maid, Candide is a circuitous tale of misadventures and coincidences that had me laughing out loud. Armed with a philosophy that all things work out for the best, Candide travels from Europe to South America and back again, somehow surviving war and multiple persecutions (mainly for the crime of being a foreigner) while encountering a host of hypocrites who take advantage of his naiveté. Through all his difficulties, Candide remains true to his philosophy and manages to not only survive but also rescue those who share his journey (if not his outlook).

Voltaire masterfully criticizes his 18th century milieu through mostly subtle, indirect commentary, although I learned from my book's endnotes that he also fictionalized his real-life enemies and then made them the butt of not-so-subtle jokes in the book. His tone is gentle, and his criticism has to be intuited from the actions and statements of his characters. As I read Candide, I was reminded of The Sot-Weed Factor and A Confederacy of Dunces. If you enjoyed the bumbling anti-heroes of those books, you will enjoy this book as well. ( )