The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners for Use in Educational Establishments (Wakefield Handbooks) [Paperback]

Pierre Louys (Author), Geoffrey Longnecker (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Wakefield Handbooks | Publication Date: February 28, 2010

A bestselling author in his time, Pierre Louys (1870-1925) was a friend of, and influence on, Andre Gide, Paul Valery, Oscar Wilde and Stephane Mallarme among others. He achieved instant notoriety with Aphrodite and The Songs of Bilitis, but it was only after his death that Louys' true legacy was to be discovered: nearly 900 pounds of erotic manuscripts were found in his home, all of them immediately scattered among collectors and many subsequently lost. Since then, it has become clear that Louys is the greatest French writer of erotica there ever was. The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners was the first of his erotic manuscripts to see publication, and it also remains his most outrageous-an erotic classic in which humor takes precedence over arousal. By means of shockingly filthy advice-ostensibly offered "for use in educational establishments"-couched in a hilariously parodic admonitory tone, Louys turns late-nineteenth-century manners roundly on their head, with ass prominently skyward. Whether offering rules for etiquette in church, school or home, or outlining a girl's duties toward family, neighbor or God, Louys manages to mock every institution and leave no taboo unsullied. The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners has only grown more scandalous and subversive since its first appearance in 1926.

Product Details

• Paperback: 76 pages
• Publisher: Wakefield Press (February 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 098411551X
• ISBN-13: 978-0984115518
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true gem of highly scandalous erotica!, February 17, 2010

By 

johnny Rotten - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners for Use in Educational Establishments (Wakefield Handbooks) (Paperback)

I'm proud to be the first to review this little gem which I discovered by pure chance in a bookstore.

I'd often read of Louys' pornographic writing, yet everything I'd read (mostly poetry) was very tame by today's standards, though beautiful.

This short book is a whole 'nother story. Wow. Lou˙s addresses this anti-etiquette book to "little girls" - in other words children - and gives page after page of such diabolical advice like urging them to never tell daddy that their brother forced them to perform oral sex; to never masturbate with a statue of the virgin marry; or to never masturbate in a confessional "so that you can be absolved immediately afterwards." But Lou˙s pulls it off with wonderful comedic skill, pretending to be dead-serious the whole time, and the book doesn't read like mere vulgarity, but rather as supreme wit. When I read it, I laughed out loud (literally) page after page.

The book is also worthy of a deeper reading beyond the superficial comic side. I don't think the book can be dismissed as "just a joke". There is obviously a strong element of both fantasy and truth in this work. It brings up a really controversial question about child sexuality, and whether it exists or not. Lou˙s seems to assume undoubtedly that it naturally does, and on an astounding level. It's also interesting to read that pornographic literature in 1926 was just as decadent (if not more so) as it is today. Child sexuality remains a very dreaded taboo in much of the world.

The translation reads wonderfully, keeping the charm of the 19th century style and yet enjoying itself of modern slang, and the book is very slim and comfortable. You can read it in one sitting. I think it makes a great gift for granddaughters.