{"id":62,"date":"2026-03-04T20:35:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/?page_id=62"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:12:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:12:01","slug":"home-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/","title":{"rendered":"A philosophical novel set in 18th century Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"<link rel=\"preload\" as=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Front_cover.jpg\">\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large sticky-book\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Front_cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34\" width=\"654\" height=\"1024\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h1 class=\"zebra-hook wp-block-heading\">The Queen&#8217;s zebra has been stolen.<\/h1>\n<p class=\"zebra-hook-sub\">But why?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"book-buttons\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/falling-in-love-while-stuffing-a-zebra-a-philosophical-tale-roland-kupers\/ef7766ab60797ce2?ean=9798886453560&#038;next=t\" class=\"purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"bookshop-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Bookshop.org<\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hive.co.uk\/Product\/Roland-Kupers\/Falling-in-Love-While-Stuffing-a-Zebra--A-Philosophical-Tale\/31997385\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"hive-uk\" rel=\"noopener\">\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Hive.co.uk<\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shakespeareandcompany.com\/books\/falling-in-love-while-stuffing-a-zebra\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"shakespeare-fr\" rel=\"noopener\">\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Shakespeare&#038;Co<\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/abc.nl\/book-details\/falling-in-love-while-stuffing-a-zebra\/@9798886453560\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"abc-nl\" rel=\"noopener\">\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 ABC<\/a>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bol.com\/nl\/nl\/p\/falling-in-love-while-stuffing-a-zebra-a-philosophical-tale\/9300000228245728\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"bol-nl\" rel=\"noopener\">\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 Bol.com<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<script>\ndocument.querySelectorAll('.purchase-btn').forEach(function(btn) {\n  btn.addEventListener('click', function() {\n    if (typeof gtag === 'function') {\n      gtag('event', 'order_click', {\n        'outlet': this.dataset.outlet\n      });\n    }\n  });\n});\n<\/script>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AT THE THRESHOLD of the French Revolution, the Enlightenment has taken 18th century Paris by storm. The Palais Royal has become the hub of free thought and freer behaviour. A whirlwind of passionate debates unfolds in the city&#8217;s new caf\u00e9s with a flourishing of theatre, satire, and opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Du Paon, still mourning his beloved twin sister, has a famous taxidermy workshop near the Seine. As his close friend Nicolas guides him through the libertarian and libertine revolution of the time, George becomes entrusted with the Queen of England&#8217;s favourite deceased zebra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George and his young prot\u00e9g\u00e9e, Jeanne, are delighted at the prospect of breathing life back into the unusual specimen while pondering how to capture the essence of its nature. Among the questions being debated at the Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences is why both the horse and the ass can be tamed, but the zebra can-not. And so the discussion evolves: What parts of the zebra make it so unique?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is a zebra more than the sum of its parts? How connected are the sexes? Is a garden part of nature? The overriding aim of the book is to explore how we fumbled complex systems thinking in the Enlightenment while scrambling for an alternative to revealed truth and we fell head over heels for reductionism; a big question explored in a light-hearted context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George is surrounded by a cast of figures ranging from the formidable Mme de Sta\u00ebl, Ambassador Thomas Jefferson, the cross-dresser general Chevalier d&#8217;\u00c9on, and the immensely popular womanizer Benjamin Franklin. As intriguing questions about the human spirit, reductionism, social class, injustice, and the gap between science and religion swirl and set the stage, fiction, history, and philosophy intermingle. Just as George&#8217;s feelings for his assistant deepen, the zebra suddenly vanishes&#8230;\ud83e\udd93<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"book-buttons\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zebra_chapter-1-1.pdf\" class=\"purchase-btn\" rel=\"noopener\" style=\"display:block; width:fit-content; margin:0 auto;\" download>Download chapter 1<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Parisian Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Explore twelve short films about the book, shot on location around Paris:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center; font-weight:600; margin-bottom:12px;\">\ud83c\udfac Click a marker to watch a short film shot on location<\/p>\n<div class=\"paris-map-container\">\n\n  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Charles_de_Wailly_Plan_general_du_projet_des_embellissements_de_Paris_1785_-_Gallica-scaled-2.jpg\" class=\"historic-map\" alt=\"Historic Paris Map\" width=\"1200\" height=\"911\"\/>\n\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:35%; left:49%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Taxidermist.mov\" data-title=\"Taxidermist\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:32%; left:31%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Robert.mov\" data-title=\"Hydrogen\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:40%; left:45%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Queens-zebra.mov\" data-title=\"Queen's Zebra\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:35%; left:43%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Palais-Royal.mov\" data-title=\"Palais Royal\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:48%; left:58%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mme-de-Stael.mov\" data-title=\"Germaine de Stael-Nekker\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:38%; left:30%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Jefferson.mov\" data-title=\"Thomas Jefferson\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:41%; left:37%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Jeanne.mov\" data-title=\"Jeanne\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:36%; left:35%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Inspecteur-Lenoir.mov\" data-title=\"Inspecteur Lenoir\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:8%; left:55%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Eon.mov\" data-title=\"Chevalier d'Eon\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:46%; left:44%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Condorcet.mov\" data-title=\"Nicolas de Condorcet\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:33%; left:44%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Canon.mov\" data-title=\"Solar power\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:30%; left:45%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cafe.mov\" data-title=\"Cafe\"><\/div>\n  <div class=\"map-hotspot\" style=\"top:35%; left:8%;\" data-video=\"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Franklin.mov\" data-title=\"Ben Franklin\"><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"videoModal\">\n  <video controls id=\"modalPlayer\"><\/video>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the book<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"review-carousel\">\n\n<div class=\"review-slide active\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">Witty, philosophical, and unexpectedly tender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Goodreads reviewer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">A historical novel that trusts its reader&#8217;s intelligence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Goodreads reviewer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">As someone who enjoys philosophy and systems thinking, I found this book incredibly refreshing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Goodreads reviewer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">At first, I thought it would be purely intellectual, but somewhere along the way it became deeply human.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Reader review<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">I didn&#8217;t expect to laugh so much while reading a philosophical novel. The humor is clever and understated, often appearing in situations that feel absurdly familiar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Goodreads reviewer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">Whether you read this book to learn how to tame zebras, or simply to tickle your brain: you will quickly notice that the wild side of reality is not so easily caged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Peter Sloot, Professor of Complex Adaptive Systems<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"review-slide\">\n<p class=\"review-text\">Kupers has a knack for making these legendary figures\u2014Mme de Sta\u00ebl, Franklin, Jefferson, even the enigmatic Chevalier d&#8217;\u00c9on\u2014feel like flesh-and-blood characters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"review-author\">\u2014 Goodreads reviewer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"goodreads-box\">\n<div class=\"gr-stars\">\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/div>\n<div class=\"gr-rating\">\n4.74 out of 5<br>\n<span>35 reader ratings<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/229306575\/reviews?reviewFilters=eyJhZnRlciI6Ik5USXNNVGMzTVRjd05EVTVNVGN6T0EifQ%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"gr-link\" rel=\"noopener\">\nRead reviews on Goodreads\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reviewers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(54,15,90); white-space: normal;\">&#8220;Charming, erudite, entertaining, informative, ingenious and philosophically intriguing. As with magical realism, this novel blends the mundane with the marvelous\u2014except in this case, the marvelous emerges not from magic but from historical characters and amazing documented details.<\/em><span style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;\">&#8221; <\/span><br><br>Betty Sue Flowers, Emerita Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(54,15,90); white-space: normal;\">&#8220;Kupers takes us into Enlightenment Paris with a story that is both cleverly light and yet thoughtful and melancholy: a taxidermist, a zebra, and a circle of historical figures, who take us on an adventure into such provocative questions as: what makes things unique, what is natural, how best to handle loss, can love heal us or not? It&#8217;s engaging, erudite, and refreshingly original \u2014 a philosophical novel that also entertains.<\/em><span style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;\">&#8221; <\/span><br><br>Brian Castellani, co-author The Atlas of Social Complexity<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(54,15,90); white-space: normal;\">&#8220;A unique read combining an entertaining yarn about a taxidermist and a commission to preserve a zebra, guest appearances by various historical figures and stimulating philosophical reflections on the limits of reductionism. Propounding systems thinking in the form of a novel is a master stroke by Kupers. Read, smile and reflect!<\/em><span style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;\">&#8221; <\/span><br><br>Martin Reeves, Chair, BCG Henderson Institute<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><em style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(54,15,90); white-space: normal;\">&#8220;Roland Kupers has a rare talent to make complexity simple, to make the entanglement of humans with their environment tangible, understandable \u2013 and fun. By doing so he engages a broad audience in these important ways of seeing and being in the world. We need experimenters and storytellers like Roland to shift minds to a truly planetary way of looking at current affairs.<\/em><span style=\"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(54,15,90); font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;\">&#8221; <\/span><br><br>Wouter van Noort, Chief Opinion Editor NRC Handelsblad<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rolandkupers.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roland Kupers<\/a> is an author, sculptor and policy advisor. Originally studying theoretical physics, he has always been intrigued by how complex systems work, in society and in nature. This book is an exploration of how we came to embrace reductionism during the Enlightenment, and how it came at the price of loosing a systemic view of the complexity of the world. The intellectuals of the day realised this, up to a point, and debated the merits of the choices they had to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And there are so many historic and irresistible anecdotes in this philosophical novel set in 18th century Paris. And George falls in love with Jeanne. And there is a zebra. \ud83e\udd93<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/falling-in-love-while-stuffing-a-zebra-a-philosophical-tale-roland-kupers\/ef7766ab60797ce2?ean=9798886453560&#038;next=t\" class=\"floating-buy purchase-btn\" data-outlet=\"floating-buy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\nBuy the Book \ud83e\udd93\n<\/a><\/p>\n<link rel=\"preload\" as=\"style\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Playfair+Display:wght@500;700&#038;display=swap\" onload=\"this.onload=null;this.rel='stylesheet'\">\n<noscript><link href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Playfair+Display:wght@500;700&#038;display=swap\" rel=\"stylesheet\"><\/noscript>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Queen&#8217;s zebra has been stolen. But why? AT THE THRESHOLD of the French Revolution, the Enlightenment has taken 18th [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":126,"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381,"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions\/381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallinginlovewhilestuffingazebra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}