{"product_id":"against-nature-9781250787668","title":"Against Nature","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoris-Karl Huysmans's cult classic of deviance and decadence that inspired Oscar Wilde's \u003ci\u003ePicture of Dorian Gray\u003c\/i\u003e, now in a new translation by Theo Cuffe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA celebration of deviance, vanity, sensual abandon, and the aesthetics of artifice, \u003ci\u003eAgainst Nature\u003c\/i\u003e brings us the nineteenth-century rebel Jean Des Esseintes--disaffected, degenerate, and art obsessed. The last of a proud and noble family, Des Esseintes retreats from the world in disgust at bourgeois society and leads a life based on cultivation of the senses through art. He distills perfumes from the rarest oils and essences, creates a garden of poisonous flowers, sets gemstones in a tortoise's gold-painted shell, and plans to corrupt a street urchin until he is degraded enough to commit murder. Des Esseintes's groundbreaking aesthetic pilgrimage in \u003ci\u003eAgainst Nature\u003c\/i\u003e has served as the guidebook to decadence for more than a century, inspiring writers from Oscar Wilde to Michel Houellebecq. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA pioneer whose early work took inspiration from Baudelaire and Zola, Joris-Karl Huysmans was a founder of the nineteenth-century decadent movement. \u003ci\u003eAgainst Nature\u003c\/i\u003e has influenced countless writers and artists and enjoys a cult following to this day. This new translation by Theo Cuffe, with a foreword by Lucy Sante, captures the magnificence of Huysmans's famous style--filled with wit and irony, expressiveness and precision, erudition and sensuality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoris-Karl Huysmans\u003c\/b\u003e (1848-1907) was a French novelist and art critic who was one of the founders of the decadent movement in France. His most famous work, \u003ci\u003eAgainst Nature \u003c\/i\u003e(\u003ci\u003eA rebours\u003c\/i\u003e), was a seminal novel of this movement. He also wrote novels in the naturalist tradition of ?mile Zola--including \u003ci\u003eMarthe, Histoire d'une fille\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eLes soeurs Vatard\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eEn menage\u003c\/i\u003e--and poetry inspired by Baudelaire's work. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eTheo Cuffe \u003c\/b\u003eis known for his translations of classic French literature, including Voltaire's \u003ci\u003eCandide\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMicrom?gas and Other Short Fictions\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLucy Sante\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer, critic, translator, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e. Her books include \u003ci\u003eLow Life\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Other Paris. \u003c\/i\u003eOriginally from Belgium, she now lives in New York and teaches writing and the history of photography at Bard College.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50718732058898,"sku":"9781250787668","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4beb8997-43e1-4bea-9fe5-ca3b330bd588.jpg?v=1748590276","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/against-nature-9781250787668","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}