Stories, Tales, and Fables

(with Selected Non-Fiction)

Marquis de Sade

Translated into modern English by R J Dent

“It is said I present vice as too odious. The reason: I do not want people to be attracted to vice. I am far more moral than those who make their villains attractive. I shall only ever depict crime in the most vivid colours of hell. I want readers to see crime in all its vile nakedness, to fear it and to hate it, and so I show it in all its horror. Woe to those who dress crime in roses! Their intentions are impure, and I will never imitate them.” (The Marquis de Sade)

Written in his Bastille cell in the years between 120 Days of Sodom and Justine, this is the first English translation of the Marquis de Sade’s collection, Stories, Tales, and Fables.

Essential reading for all Sade devotees, Stories, Tales, and Fables is an introduction for those who are not yet familiar with the work of this controversial French literary innovator. The short works in this collection range from the dramatic novella, Dorci, to comic tales such as The Duped Judge. It also includes a modern translation of Sade’s controversial dramatic dialogue: Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man. Whether he is writing bawdy, exuberant comedies, supernatural tales, or human tragedies, Sade is essentially a moralist, and his exploration of the darker side of human nature remains as relevant to our society as it was to his own.

Psychologically perceptive and defiantly unconventional, Stories, Tales, and Fables reveals the compelling force of Sade’s narrative powers. An accomplished and artful fiction writer, Sade, like all great writers, asks penetrating questions about society, life, and humanity. This collection also includes a selection of Sade’s non-fiction, ranging from his insightful survey of the novelist’s art, Some Thoughts on the Novel, to his Last Will and Testament, as well as several essays about Sade’s work by renowned authors including Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Heine, Andre Masson, Anatole France and Paul Ėluard.

Product details:

Author: Marquis de Sade

Title: Stories, Tales, and Fables (2024)

Translator: R J Dent

ISBN: 978-1940625-#-##

Language: English

Format: Paperback

Pages 248

​Publication Date: October 2024

Publisher: Contra Mundum Press

Book details (publisher): https://www.contramundumpress.com/stories-tales-and-fables

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