Stories, Tales, and Fables

(with Selected Non-Fiction)

by the Marquis de Sade

(translated into modern English by R J Dent)

“It is said I present vice as too odious. The reason: I do not want people to be attracted to vice. I am far more moral than those who make their villains attractive. I shall only ever depict crime in the most vivid colours of hell. I want readers to see crime in all its vile nakedness, to fear it and to hate it, and so I show it in all its horror. Woe to those who dress crime in roses! Their intentions are impure, and I will never imitate them.” (The Marquis de Sade)

Written in his Bastille cell in the years between 120 Days of Sodom and Justine, this is the first English translation of Marquis de Sade’s collection of short works, Stories, Tales, and Fables.

Temporary Cover

Essential reading for all Sade devotees, Stories, Tales, and Fables is an introduction for those who are not yet familiar with the work of this controversial French literary innovator. The short works in this collection range from the dramatic novella, Dorci, to comic tales such as Room For Two. The collection also includes Sade’s controversial dramatic dialogue: Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man. Whether he is writing bawdy, exuberant comedies, supernatural tales, or human tragedies, Sade is essentially a moralist, and his exploration of the darker side of human nature remains as relevant to our society as it was to his own.

Psychologically perceptive and defiantly unconventional, Stories, Tales, and Fables reveals the compelling force of Sade’s narrative powers. An accomplished and artful fiction writer, Sade, like all great writers, asks penetrating questions about society, life, and humanity. This collection also includes a selection of Sade’s non-fiction, ranging from his insightful survey of the novelist’s art, Some Thoughts on the Novel, to his Last Will and Testament, as well as several essays about Sade’s work by renowned authors including Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Heine, Andre Masson, Anatole France and Paul Ėluard.

Book details:

Title: Stories, Tales, and Fables (with Selected Non-Fiction)

Author: Marquis de Sade

Translator: R J Dent

ISBN: 978-1940625-#-##

​Language: English

Pages: 670

Cover Art: Currently being created by Federico Gori

Publication Date: October 2024

Publisher: Contra Mundum Press

Book details (publisher):

https://www.contramundumpress.com/stories-tales-and-fables

Other works by the Marquis de Sade (translated by R J Dent):

http://www.rjdent.com/category/marquis-de-sade/

Some of Sade’s short stories and tales (translated by R J Dent) read by Listen to Poetry:

https://listentopoetry.com/marquis-de-sade/

The Songs of Maldoror

by Le Comte de Lautréamont

Translated into modern English by R J Dent

Illustrated by Karolina Urbaniak

Published by Infinity Land Press 

Title: The Songs of Maldoror

Author: Le Comte de Lautréamont

Translator: R J Dent

Illustrator: Karolina Urbaniak

Foreword: Audrey Szasz

Afterword: Jeremy Reed

Publisher: Infinity Land Press

ISBN: 978-1-8382803-7-6

Format: Hardback

Pages: 288

Language: English

Dimensions: 210mm (8¼“) x 148mm (5¾”)

Weight: 672 grams (1.48 lbs)

‘A new, definitive edition of Lautréamont’s influential masterpiece. Vividly translated by R J Dent.’

Le Comte de Lautréamont was the nom de plume of Isidore Ducasse (1846–70), a Uruguayan-born French writer and poet whose only surviving major work of fiction, The Songs of Maldoror (Les Chants de Maldoror), was discovered by the Surrealists, who hailed the work as a dark progenitor of their movement. It was in The Songs of Maldoror that André Breton discovered the phrase that would come to represent the Surrealist doctrine of objective chance: “as beautiful as the random encounter between an umbrella and a sewing-machine upon a dissecting-table.”

Artists inspired by Lautréamont include Man Ray, René Magritte, Max Ernst, André Masson, Joan Miró, Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dalí. In this edition, award-winning photographer and design artist, Karolina Urbaniak, has created 37 full colour illustrations that complement the dark and disturbing elements of The Songs of Maldoror in all its savage beauty.

Vividly translated by R J Dent – the first new translation for over forty years – The Songs of Maldoror also includes a foreword by avant garde writer, Audrey Szasz and an afterword by poet Jeremy Reed. 

The Songs of Maldoror is a poetic novel (or a long prose poem) consisting of six cantos. It was written between 1868 and 1869 by Le Comte de Lautréamont, the pseudonym of Isidore Ducasse. During the early 1900s, many of the surrealists (Salvador Dalí, André Breton, Antonin Artaud, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Max Ernst) cited the novel as a major inspiration to their own works. The Songs of Maldoror – and the book’s protagonist Maldoror – have continued to fascinate readers since its publication.

The Songs of Maldoror is available from Infinity Land Press here: https://www.infinitylandpress.com/the-songs-of-maldoror

or from R J Dent here: http://www.rjdent.com/the-songs-of-maldoror-2/

John Wisniewski’s interview with R J Dent (in which the Marquis de Sade, Alfred Jarry and The Songs of Maldoror are discussed) can be read here: 

https://www.greatweatherformedia.com/greatweatherformediacom/2022/9/27/an-interview-with-rj-dent

The Songs of Maldoror and other books by R J Dent can be found at: www.rjdent.com

Her Three Daughters by Pierre Louÿs

Translated into modern English by R J Dent

Her Three Daughters by Pierre Louÿs, translated from the French into modern English by R J Dent, published by New Urge, is now available.

Synopsis: A young man moves into a new apartment and receives an advanced education in the permutations of sex from a mother and her three—surprisingly well-educated—daughters. Part memoir, part confession, Her Three Daughters is Pierre Louÿs at his erotic best.

“Louÿs’s jolly saga of sexual insatiability…is one of the handful of erotic works that achieve true literary status.” — Susan Sontag

“Among all Pierre Louÿs’s books, this is undoubtedly my favourite, the most moving, most uplifting and sometimes the most terrifying, the purest, the least artificial and the most modern. A masterpiece.” —André Pieyre de Mandiargues

“Amazing! It’s erotica, but high-quality erotica!” — Jean d’Ormesson

“One of the most moving books ever written on the fatality of desires.” —Annie Le Brun

“Here, without question, is Pierre Louÿs’ erotic masterpiece. The strength of the novel does not come from its eventual biographical value, but from the constant transgression that manifests itself within it—containing all the erotic themes dear to the writer, elevated to a singular power. We also find here the key qualities of Louÿs’ style: the liveliness of the dialogue, the precision of the language, the irony, the relentlessness with which certain obscene words are constantly repeated. This scandalous book constitutes a total profanation and derision of the bourgeois universe to which the author belonged.” —Jean-Paul Goujon

Book details:

Title: Her Three Daughters

Author: Pierre Louÿs

Translator: R J Dent

Language: English

Publisher: New Urge

Publication Date: February 13, 2023

ISBN: 979-8986922478

Format: Paperback

Pages: 340

Dimensions: 12.85 cm x 2.16 cm x 19.84 cm (5.06 inches x 0.85 inches x 7.81 inches)

Weight: 15.5 ounces (439.41 grams)

Book details (publisher): https://blackscatbooks.com/2023/02/26/all-in-the-family/

Book details (translator): http://www.rjdent.com/her-three-daughters/

Purchase link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BW2GGCQP

Purchase link (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW2GGCQP

Purchase link (Can): https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BW2GGCQP

Purchase link (Aus): https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BW2GGCQP

Purchase link (Italy): https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0BW2GGCQP/

Purchase link (Holl): https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0BW2GGCQP/

Purchase link (Fr): https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BW2GGCQP/

Purchase link (Ger): https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BW2GGCQP/

Translator’s website: www.rjdent.com

In My Library – the Marquis de Sade

The Marquis de Sade books in my library – descending:

Retaliation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737371170

The Self-Made Cuckold: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737371197

Justine

Justine

The Misfortunes of Virtue

The One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom

Juliette

The Gothic Tales of the Marquis de Sade

The Crimes of Love

The Marquise de Gange

The Marquis de Sade: A Life (Schaeffer)

Justine

Crimes of Passion

Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom & Other Writings

Sade My Neighbour (Klossowski)

Sade: The Libertine Novels (Phillips)

The Mystified Magistrate

Some Thoughts on the Novel: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1471796957

De Sade: Sex and Death: http://www.rjdent.com/sade-sex-and-death-the-divine-marquis-and-the-surrealists/

Aline and Valcour (Vols. 1, 2 & 3)

Historiettes, Contes et Fabliaux (Stories, Tales and Fables)

Letters From Prison

Jean-Fucque by Louis Aragon

Adapted from the French by R J Dent

Inspired by Louis Aragon’s obscure surrealist text, R J Dent’s 21st century adaptation of Aragon’s absurdist tale recounts the adventures of Jean-Fucque (Le Cocque), a large, disembodied penis who had a series of exploits and encounters around Paris.

This English rendition recounts Jean-Fucque’s adventures on the Metro, including his satisfactory encounters with several female passengers, as well as details of his small room in a hotel frequented by prostitutes, and an explanation as to why Jean-Fucque buys a hat.

Jean-Fucque is No. 22 in the Pocket Erotica series.

Product details:

Publisher: ‎New Urge Editions / Pocket Erotica

Publication Date: November 24, 2021
Language: ‎English
Format: Paperback

Pages: 131
ISBN-10: ‎1737943042
ISBN-13: ‎978-1737943044
Item Weight: ‎5 ounces (141.74 grams)
Dimensions: ‎4 x 0.33 x 6 inches (10.16 x 0.84 x 15.24 cm)

The Publisher’s description of the book (with links) is here: https://blackscatbooks.com/2021/11/25/watch-out-here-comes-jean-fucque/

Purchase link (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737943042

Purchase link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1737943042

Purchase link (Aus): https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1737943042

Details of R J Dent’s books, events, news, forthcoming, etc, at http://www.rjdent.com/

Charles Baudelaire – Selected Erotic Poems – A Review by Amanda Hodgson

Selected Erotic Poems

Charles Baudelaire

Translated from the French by RJ Dent

The Godfather of Gloom, Charles Baudelaire, gets the R J Dent treatment in a translation that brings new life and suppleness to his words.

Baudelaire is closed curtains in daytime, candles, overflowing ashtrays and small, intimate parties where small, intimate events occur; as in these closing lines from  “Jewels”:

‘And as the candle-light prepared to die,

and its low flames gently lit the chamber,

each time there sounded a contented sigh,

our warm flesh blushed the colour of amber.’

Ennui-ridden existentialist Baudelaire gives us some dreamy transporting moments before we are mired in the sludge of sin once more. This is starkly drawn in ‘I love the memory’, where an Elysium in which ‘no shame was caused by sensuality’, men and women were naked and ‘heaven lovingly caressed their skin’ is firmly of the past. In trying to imagine such times in the present ‘a cold and gloomy feeling envelopes his soul’. It sounds more than cold and gloom. Cold and gloom is Britain pre-global warming most days. Cold and gloom is not

‘a black, terrifying tableau:

monstrosities crying out for their clothes;

twisted bodies, fat uglies needing masks,

the crooked, wasted, flabby, the grotesque –

who some practical god, serene and calm,

forced into metal clothes when they were born,

and every one as pale as candle wax,

who gnaw at their debauchery and sex

who drag with them their parents’ stupid vice

of bringing hideous progeny to life.’

Conversely, the reader can feel the sun and smell the tamarind in ‘Exotic Perfume”, where Baudelaire is once more transported from the bleak present by a woman’s body. Baudelaire portrays women as representing good and evil on a metaphysical plane. I am filled with ennui over Madonna/Whore tropes but in “Exotic Perfume”, the imagery delights.

In “Hair” the woman of the poem is the sea. The poet dives in:

‘Into this black sea where other seas swell,

I’ll dip my lovingly rapturous head

and then, caressed by rolling waves, I will

find you again, idleness that’s fertile

enough to lull me into a sweet bed.’

There is much to delight in this translation. The rich, evocative imagery lends these poems to being read on silken bedding while languorously consuming peeled grapes. This translation serves as both introduction and companion to the works of Charles Baudelaire.

Charles Baudelaire – Selected Erotic Poems

Translated into English by R J Dent

Published by New Urge Editions

R J Dent’s official website book details and links: Selected Erotic Poems – Charles Baudelaire

New Urge Editions book details and links: Banned in France! – Selected Erotic Poems – Charles Baudelaire

The Celestial Bandit – a tribute to Lautreamont and Maldoror

Isidore Ducasse (1846-1870), better known by his pen name Comte de Lautréamont, is the most influential writer most people have never heard of. Maldoror, the first of his two works, has been described as the most evil book ever written. It has also been described as the funniest. Either way, it provides some of the most gorgeous, twisty, weird sentences in any language.

An inspiration to the Surrealists, post-colonial Caribbean writers, and the Situationists to name a few, Lautréamont still garners a following today. In The Celestial Bandit, editor Jordan A. Rothacker brings together twenty-four contemporary artists from music, visual arts, and the writing world to pay tribute to this unique and exciting influence. Poetry, essays, short stories, experimental texts, and a dictionary of disruptive neologisms, this anthology has it all. 

Contributing authors and artists include: Mark Amerika, Louis Armand, R J Dent, Seb Doubinsky, Steve Finbow, Chris Kelso, Callum Leckie, Golnoosh Nour, Jeremy Reed and Audrey Szasz, amongst others.

All profits from the sales of The Celestial Bandit will be donated to Surfrider Foundation for their efforts to protect our oceans that Ducasse loved so much.

Book details and purchase link here: http://www.rjdent.com/the-celestial-bandit-a-tribute-to-isidore-ducasse-the-comte-de-lautreamont-edited-by-jordan-a-rothacker/

Purchase link here: http://www.kernpunktpress.com/store/p29/celestialbandit.html

Charles Baudelaire and the Marquis de Sade

Charles Baudelaire and the Marquis de Sade.

Charles Baudelaire – Selected Erotic Poems

Translated into English by R J Dent

Book details and purchase links:
http://www.rjdent.com/selected-erotic-poems-charles-baudelaire-translated-from-the-french-by-r-j-dent/

Sade – Retaliation

Translated into English by R J Dent

Book details and purchase links:
http://www.rjdent.com/retaliation-the-marquis-de-sade-translated-from-the-french-by-r-j-dent/

Kim Vodicka, author of Dear Ted: https://kimvodicka.com/ and @theelvismachine

Book details and purchase link:

https://rlysrslit.bigcartel.com/product/dear-ted-preorder-kim-vodicka

The Marquis de Sade, Louis Aragon, Charles Baudelaire…

Three translations and an adaptation by R J Dent

The Marquis de Sade’s Retaliation, book details here

The Marquis de Sade’s The Self-Made Cuckold, book details here

Louis Aragon’s Jean-Fucque (Le Cocque), book details here

Charles Baudelaire’s Selected Erotic Poems, book details here

All available as paperbacks in the Pocket Erotica Series from New Urge Editions

R J Dent’s official website is here

Selected Erotic Poems by Charles Baudelaire

Translated into English by R J Dent

Charles Baudelaire’s decadent erotic poems caused a scandal when they first appeared in 1857. Both author and publisher were prosecuted for unveiling works that were ‘an insult to public decency’, and six poems in the collection were suppressed.

These so-called indecent works (banned in France until 1949) were: Lesbos; Condemned Women: Delphine and Hippolyta; Lethe; To One Who Is Too Happy; Jewels; and The Metamorphosis of the Vampire— and all are included in this Pocket Erotica edition, plus 20 more.

Selected Erotic Poems

Charles Baudelaire

Translated from the French by R J Dent

Pocket Erotica No. 21, New Urge Editions

ISBN 978-1737943037

Format: Paperback chapbook

Pages: 64

Dimensions: 4 x 0.16 x 6 inches

Weight: 3.2 ounces

Purchase link (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737943034

Purchase link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1737943034

Purchase link (Aus): https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1737943034

Translator’s website: www.rjdent.com