Dross

In the glittering heart of 1869 Paris, a grand ceremony gathers the continent’s diplomats, military men, and a curious crowd of “mushroom nobility” to mark the centenary of Napoleon’s birth. Through the eyes of a lanky narrator, the reader slips past the formal pomp to glimpse the quirks of figures like the rotund banker John Turner and a tear‑ful court officer, while the looming presence of Napoleon III adds a weighty historical backdrop. The scene is painted with a blend of reverent ceremony and sly humor, setting a tone that is both theatrical and oddly intimate.

Beyond the church’s vaulted arches, the narrator reveals an absurd personal history—having been smuggled onto a ship disguised as a piano—and a penchant for evading creditors with flamboyant tricks. This off‑beat perspective promises a tale that teases the absurdities of power, the lingering shadows of empire, and the strange alliances formed in the wake of history’s grand pageants. Listeners are invited to follow this eccentric observer as he navigates a world where pomp, politics, and peculiar personal theatrics collide.