The French Revolution : 9781593762834 : 1593762836 : 01 Jun 2010 : A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year that ?fondly recalls John Kennedy Toole's 1980 classic A Confederacy of Dunces.? Esmerelda Van Twinkle, a failed pastry chef turned obese copy shop manager, stumbles into motherhood after a semi-intentional liaison with good-natured coupon distributor Jasper Winslow. Born on Bastille Day, their twin children, Robespierre and Marat, revolt against archaic rules imposed by their autocratic grandmother, surmount radically misguided parenting, navigate factional infighting, and engage in combat in the Middle East to achieve great personal gain. But just as the family is on the cusp of achieving meteoric success in politics, business, music, and gastronomy, fissures from the past crack open spectacularly, derailing their bid for long-lived power while cementing a reputation for the ages. Loosely structured on the greatest identity crisis ever, The French Revolution is