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  • Published: 7 July 2003
  • ISBN: 9780140447637
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $22.99

Against Nature




The original handbook of decadence - has enjoyed a cult readership since its publication, with fans including Oscar Wilde and Marianne Faithfull

The hero of this curious novel is des Esseintes, a neurasthenic aristocrat who has turned his back on the vulgarity of modern life and retreated to an isolated country villa. Here, accompanied only by a couple of silent servants, he pursues his obsessions with exotic flowers, rare gems, and complex perfumes and embarks on a series of increasingly strange aesthetic experiments, starting with the decision to give his giant pet tortoise a jewel-encrusted shell...

  • Published: 7 July 2003
  • ISBN: 9780140447637
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $22.99

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