Resisting the traditional model of nineteenth-century fiction,
Joris-Karl Huysman produced in 1884 a novel unlike any other of his
time. Against Nature is the story of Des Esseintes, an aesthete who
attempts to escape Paris and, along with it, the vulgarity of modern
life. As Des Esseintes hides away in his museum of high taste, Huysman
offers the reader a treasury of cultural delights and anticipates many
aspects of twentieth century modernism. Supplemented by notes and a
critical introduction, this new translation is sure to engage today's
reader.
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