Understanding Sade

A feast of the body and, above all, a feast of words, Sade's work continues to reach out to us through the fusions it creates. Philosophy? Pornography? Farce? Like Madame de Saint-Ange in her boudoir, Sade could exclaim: "I'm an amphibious animal. I love everything. I enjoy everything. I want to bring all genres together."

In keeping with Sade's concern for totality, this book follows the biographical, literary and philosophical journey of a man imprisoned under all regimes, a victim of all despotisms, and who, through his laughter and his pen, knew how to frighten the supporters of "virtuous good causes," who recognize themselves by their desire to make a "clean sweep" of all the complexity and madness of the world. Think you know Sade? Think again