Product Description

In France, Alain Robbe-Grillet's final novel was sold in shrink-wrap, labeled with a sticker warning readers that this perverse fairy tale might offend certain sensibilities. It tells the story of Gigi, also known as Djinn, who is being schooled by her father to be a perfect slave and mistress. Running the gamut of unacceptable subject matter from incest to torture, this book abounds with vignettes that explore taboos and their representation in fiction, from the Brothers Grimm to the Marquis de Sade. It is titillating and disgusting, the work of a dirty old man or brilliant agent provocateur–or both.

Review

What constitutes pornography is very much in the eye of the beholder, but there is little doubt that this is an openly and joyfully pornographic book, in that it turns into an unbound celebration of deviancy at its most explicit and imaginative. (
The Guardian)

This isn't literature, this is masturbation! (
Alain Robbe-Grillet)

There is some superb writing here — an effective, unsettling contrast to the awful subject-matter, and the aspect of the book that is most intriguing.. (
Complete Review)

The power of the novel and Robbe-Grillet's mastery is impressive, but the novel itself is disturbing. Whether one judges this novel art, pornography or a fusion of the two, it will trouble readers. (
Spiked)

This artful translation pays homage to the book's aesthetic refinement. (
The New Yorker)

About the Author

Nee en 1930, Catherine Robbe-Grillet est ecrivain. Elle est l'auteur de plusieurs ouvrages, sous differents pseudonymes, notamment”Jean de Berg” pour”L'Image” (Minuit, 1956) et”Jeanne de Berg” pour”Ceremonies de femmes” (Grasset, 1985) et “Le Petit carnet perdu” (Fayard, 2007).
Sous son propre nom, Catherine Robbe-Grillet est l'auteur de”Entretien avec Jeanne de Berg” (Les Impressions Nouvelles, 2002) et”Jeune mariee: Journal, 1957-1962″ (Fayard, 2004).

photo: (c) Ulf Andersen / Gamma