Letters from Prison

The great libertine author, recently the subject of many biographical efforts, is finally allowed to speak about his life, in his own words, with the publication of this selection of letters written during the many years that Sade was incarcerated. Behind bars from 1777, when he was first imprisoned in Vincennes, to 1789, the marquis had nothing else to do but write. These letters reveal that while he was melodramatic, manipulative, self-righteous and prone to fits of rage and paranoia, he was also extremely insightful, intelligent, well read, full of ironic humor and capable of expressing great love and tenderness to his wife, Ren e-P lagie. Most of the letters in this collection are to his spouse, toward whom his emotions are startlingly extreme. In an early letter he writes, ""My dear friend, you are all I have left on earth: father, mother, sister, wife, friend, you are all those to me, I have no one but you: do not abandon me, I beg you, let it not be from you that I receive the final blow of misfortune."" But later, he vents his frustration on her, chiding her cruelly for foolish pursuits: ""If 'tis true that one must account to the Lord for one's time on earth, what embarrassment awaits you in the next world!"" The only drawback to this collection is that the reader gets only Sade's side. Although Seaver's elegant introduction nearly fills the need, the full context, in the form of the many letters Sade received, is missing. Even by themselves, however, these stunning epistles show a man who suffered endlessly in prison, but who never lost his spirit, finding solace in the written word. (May)