Originally published in 1800, it contained eleven stories and an essay on the novel. The present book contains three (abridged) tales. In "Florville and Courval" we find not only a reinterpretation and elaboration of the Oedipus myth but an unforgettable illustration of Sade's artistic creed. He was not simply an eccentric aristocrat with artistic pretensions but a pathological rebel against the Age of Enlightenment, and a prisoner of the Prince of Darkness. Two other tales ae presented here. "Juliette and Raunai" has a historical setting. It is sentimental and melodramatic. In it, virtue does triumph, but not before the lovers have run the gamut of human suffering. "Miss Henriette Stralson" has a contemporary setting and ranks above his historical tales. In it, virtue wins only a pyrrhic victory.
