The Necklace and Other Tales

Ranging from poignant scrutiny of social pretension, to wicked tales of lust and love, to harrowing stories of terror and madness, the genius of Guy de Maupassant, France's greatest short-story writer, is on full display in this enthralling new translation by Joachim Neugroschel. The stories Neugroschel has gathered vividly reveal Maupassant's remarkable range, his keen eye, his technical perfection, his sexual realism, his ability to create whole worlds and sum up intricate universes of feeling in a few pages. Adam Gopnik's Introduction incisively explores the essence of Maupassant's unique style and his tremendous, if unjustly unacknowledged, influence (on everything from the American short story to contemporary cinema), bearing eloquent testimony to Maupassant's continuing and vital appeal.

<b>Guy de Maupassant</b> (1850--1893), after serving in the Franco-Prussian War, became a close friend of Flaubert and his circle. He wrote hundreds of short stories as well as novels and verse. In his later years, he suffered from mental illness, and he died in an asylum.<br><br><b>Joachim Neugroschel</b>’s translations include definitive renderings of Kafka, Mann, Racine, Molière, Bataille, and many others; his most recent book is <i>No Star Too Beautiful: An Anthology of Yiddish Stories from 1832 to the Present</i>. He has been awarded the French-American Foundation Translation Prize, the Goethe House/PEN Translation Prize (twice), and Guggenheim and NEA grants. He lives in Belle Harbor, New York.<br><br><b>Adam Gopnik</b> is the author of <i>Paris to the Moon</i> (availa