Bouvard and Pecuchet

According to Wikipedia: "e;Bouvard et Pecuchet is an unfinished satirical work by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1881 after his death in 1880. Although conceived in 1863 as Les Deux Cloportes ("e;The Two Woodlice"e;), and partially inspired by a short story of Barthelemy Maurice (Les Deux Greffiers, "e;The Two Court Clerks"e;, which appeared in La Revue des Tribunaux in 1841 and which he may have read in 1858), Flaubert did not begin the work in earnest until 1872, at a time when financial ruin threatened. Over time, the book obsessed him to the degree that he claimed to have read over 1500 books in preparation for writing it-he intended it to be his masterpiece, surpassing all of his other works. He only took a minor break, in order to compose Three Tales in 1875-76. It received lukewarm reviews: critics failed to appreciate both its message and its structural devices."e;