Monsieur de Bougrelon and Other Stories


Monsieur de Bougrelon

and Other Stories

Jean Lorrain

 

Translated by Brian Stableford

 

Monsieur de Bougrelon, which originally appeared in serial form in Le Journal between 20 January and 10 May 1897, is here presented in English in a wonderful and fully annotated translation by Brian Stableford.

This literary masterpiece, the eponymous “hero” of which is an extraordinary invention, remarkably exotic even by the standards of an era in which the intersection of neo-Naturalist and Symbolist Movements had created an intense interested in abnormal psychologies, is, for all its calculated eccentricity a strangely poignant work. It is not surprising that Monsieur de Bougrelon continued to haunt the author long after he had completed its composition and, as literary revenants go, the character is one of those most likely to make a liminal but profound impression even in today’s world.

 

In addition to the title novella, the present volume includes nine delightful stories from Lorrain’ s later period, which have never before appeared in English.

 

About the Author
Jean Lorrain (1855-1906) was the pseudonym of Paul Alexandre Martin ­Duval. He was one of the leading figures of the Decadent Movement and the author of numerous novels, volumes of poetry and short stories. At one point he was probably the highest paid journalist in France. Though mostly remembered today for his famous duel with Marcel Proust, he might be seen as the true chronicler of the fin-de-siècle. His short story collections Nightmares of an Ether-Drinker and The Soul-Drinker and Other Decadent Fantasies were previously published by Snuggly Books.

 

Paperback, 222 pages
Release date, July 14, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1-64525-035-7
Price: US$16.30

 

 

Hardcover, 224 pages.
Release date, July 14, 2020
Price: US$35.00