Publisher's Synopsis
This book is an introductory study of Huysmans' writing, looking at all his major works and relating them to the work of Zola, Flaubert and the Goncourt brothers.;Using recently published letters the author reveals new aspects of Huysmans' personal life and shows that textuality and sexuality, writing and living, are inseparable for this author. Huysmans' use of French language and the parallels he drew between literature and the visual arts are discussed. The book ends with analyses of related texts, grouped thematically and covering his treatment of women, the monstrous and the supernatural.
