CONFESSIONS OF O: Conversations with Pauline R‚age

by R‚gine Deforges ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 1979

It's been a quarter of a century since Story of O was published in France, and if the smarmy interviewer of its anonymous author ""Pauline R‚age"" is to be believed, the French are still savoring their shock; ""some people shake a little in their boots"" even today. Despite its intellectual pretensions, this dialogue between two writers of ""erotic works"" smacks a little of two adolescents exhilarated by their ability to scandalize. They discuss their strings of lovers, and talk about O's total ""surrender"" to humiliation and torture for the sake of love as bringing a kind of ""peace."" Then they shatter their own illusions by admiring men whose ""moral imperatives are courage and courtesy,"" or pronouncing empty sentences on Life: ""Isn't there something terribly fascinating and yet incomprehensible in the great seething mass of humanity -- men, women, and children?"" Since Deforges and R‚age succumb to so much mutual admiration that at times they resemble a TV variety-show host and guest, this is only for those who delight in narcissistic displays.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION