Guy de Maupassant

(Paperback)

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The most celebrated French storyteller of the nineteenth century, Guy de Maupassant was a master of the modern short story. Offering an intriguing picture of French life, the enduring appeal of his stories derives from understated artistry, extreme craftsmanship and the universality of his characters and their aspirations and misfortunes. In this insightful and compelling biography, the only one in English currently available, Christopher Lloyd situates Maupassant's life and work in the literary and social context of nineteenth-century France. Lloyd skilfully introduces the reader to Maupassant's most famous works, such as Boule de suif, Bel-Ami and Pierre et Jean, as well as highlighting the important stages and achievements of his life and legacy.

Reviews

"In keeping with the aims of Reaktion's excellent series, Lloyd's Guy de Maupassant explores the life of the writer in relationship to his major works. Lloyd's pleasantly readable style, characterized by the same clarity and precision attributed to Maupassant himself, guarantees that even seasoned readers of Maupassant will discover afresh the brilliance and complexity of an author they thought they knew well."--Mary Donaldson-Evans, University of Delaware
"Lloyd's study of Maupassant, part of Reaktion's concise Critical Lives series, contains a wealth of information about the life, works, and legacy of its subject. . . . The analysis is scrupulously balanced from start to finish. . . . It is hard to imagine a more comprehensive treatment of Maupassant in this format. . . . Lloyd expertly condenses a maximum of content, about both Maupassant's own writing and the responses it has elicited, into around two hundred pages. As a result, Guy de Maupassant will no doubt serve as both a helpful teaching aid and an introduction to Maupassant for interested amateurs for years to come."-- "Modern Language Review"

Author Bio

Christopher Lloyd is Emeritus Professor of French at Durham University. His publications on Maupassant include Maupassant: Bel-Ami (1988) and Maupassant Conteur et Romancier (1994).