This story of a doctor of 16th Century Spain who believed tobacco was the cure-all serves as a back drop to a witty commentary on the folly of man; his self-centered ludicrous beliefs and his greed. I found it quite entertaining and fun. ( )

Set in 16th century Spain (and England), this is the story of (actual historical personage) Dr. Monardes, as told by his student/assistant. Monardes (at least this fictional version of him) is quite cynical in general, but he's perfectly sincere in at least this one respect: He believes that tobacco is a cure-all.

Except for a couple of chapter titles, Ruskov doesn't attempt to recreate 16th-century literary style. (I'm not complaining!) The narrator's voice is chatty and funny. ("Some say it is the ugliest large building in the world, while others argue the opposite, i.e. that it is the largest ugly building in the world.") But there's no plot here, there are simply episodes, some of them featuring cameos by Lope de Vega, Cervantes, Figaro (The Barber of Seville), Ben Jonson, a performance of Hamlet, the plague, and the kings of Spain and England.

I'd be interested to read other work by Ruskov, but while I liked parts of this book, I don't feel like they added up to much of a whole. In addition to the aforementioned absence of plot, the novel left me with the feeling that the closest thing to a significant character here wasn't the doctor or his assistant or any of their patients, but tobacco itself.