Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of five satirical novels by François Rabelais, chronicling the adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Rabelais's vigorous examination of the life of his times-from bizarre battles to great drinking bouts, from satire on religion and education to matter-of-fact descriptions of bodily functions and desires-is one of the great comic masterpieces of literature.