The Necrophiliac
Translated by Don Bapst
Lucien, an antique dealer in Paris, loves Japanese netsuke — specifically, those burlesque statues depicting vigorous sexual acts with the dead ... He also likes to dig up bodies. Young or old, men or women, each deceased person is the object of his erotic fervor. Meticulously recording the graphic details of his forbidden affairs in the pages of his private journal, the macabre collector bares his soul, revealing the heartrending origin of his lonely desire.
First published in 1972, "The Necrophiliac" was the subject of fierce debate. Today it is internationally regarded as a classic, on a par with the best writings of Poe, Baudelaire, Lautréamont and Sade. Striking not only for its astonishing subject matter but for the poetic beauty of the late author’s subtle, intricate prose, "The Necrophiliac" goes far beyond gothic horror to explore the melancholy in the loneliest depths of the human condition, forcing readers to confront their own mortality with an unprecedented intimacy.
Though he has haunted the imaginations of readers around the world for more than three decades, the protagonist of Gabrielle Wittkop's lyrical novel has, remarkably, never before been read in English. With this vivid new translation by Don Bapst, the stories of Lucien's loves are brought to Anglophone readers for the first time in all their bittersweet beauty.
Bio
Don Bapst (donbapst.com) is an award-winning filmmaker, novelist, playwright and translator. He works as a course coordinator and faculty member with ASU's Writers' Studio.
Praise for this book
Even now, nearly 40 years after its initial publication, it feels a bit taboo to read it. Here, at last, is a boundary that few dare cross, an element of the macabre that has not been played out in a thousand similar iterations already, and it’s been kept secret from me by the barrier of language my entire life.
Monica S. Kuebler Rue Morgue magazine
It is the apotheosis of sick humour, the kind that makes us both laugh and confront things we would normally rather not. ... I was, like Orwell's imaginary reader, determined at first not to be impressed. But I very quickly was. This is a masterpiece.
Nicholas Lezard The Guardian
