Road From Decadence

The Road from Decadence: From Brothel to Cloister: Selected Letters of JK Huysmans by JK Huysmans, edited and translated by Barbara Beaumont, 235 pages

This collection of letters spans four decades and includes the author's correspondence with such literary luminaries as Emile Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Stephane Mallarme, Paul Verlaine, and Leon Bloy, as well as less famous figures with whom he was involved financially, socially, or spiritually.  Through the chronological arrangement it is easy to trace Huysmans' journey from Realism to Decadence to conversion, and to witness how through these transitions he remains stubbornly consistent in his dissatisfaction with the world and rejection of every form of sentimentality and superficiality.  Although his devoted admirers will doubtlessly enjoy this collection, there is admittedly little here to interest a wider audience.