My Lunatic Asylum
Charles Barbara
Translated by Brian Stableford
Charles Barbara (1817-1866), though principally remembered today for being “a friend of Baudelaire,” was, arguably, one of the more influential writers of his time, being one of the earliest authors of science fiction, Naturalism, and the roman policier.
The present volume, originally published as Mes petites-maisons in 1860, and here offered in English for the first time in a translation by Brian Stableford, brings together six of Barbara’s best tales, presented something in the manner of case studies.
From “Outline of the Life of a Virtuoso,” in which we follow the career of an obsessed violinist, and “Major Whittington,” a classic science fiction novella that overflows with technological excesses, to the psychological “Irma Gilquin,” the current selection reveals a writer whose influences were wide, whose ambitions were great, and whose previous neglect has been grossly unfair.
About the Author
Charles Barbara (1817-1866), the son of a luthier, became involved in Henry Murger’s Buveurs d’eau group, before meeting Baudelaire and turning towards literature himself, though also playing the violin as an additional means of support. His first novel, L’Assassinat du Pont-Rouge, first published as a serial in the Revue de Paris, before being published in book form in 1857. Other works include his collections Histoires émouvantes (1857) and Mes Petites-Maisons (1860), and the posthumously published novel Mademoiselle de Sainte-Luce. From the same author, Snuggly Books has also published Stirring Stories (2021).
About the Translator
Brian Stableford has been publishing fiction and non-fiction for fifty years. His fiction includes a series of “tales of the biotech revolution” and a series of metaphysical fantasies featuring Edgar Poe’s Auguste Dupin. He has previously translated for Snuggly Books a number of titles, including The Soul-Drinker and Other Decadent Fantasies by Jean Lorrain, and The Unknown Collaborator and Other Legendary Tales by Victor Joly.
Paperback, 268 pages
Release date, August 18, 2020
Price: $18.50
Hardcover, 270 pages. Limited to 60 copies
Release date, August 18, 2020
Price: $35.00