The Marquis de Sade: A Life (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

His immortality may be of a scandalous variety, but the fascination still exerted by Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814) is evidenced in this, the third biography of the man to appear in a scant six months. Francine du Plessix Gray (At Home with the Marquis de Sade) and Laurence Bongie (Sade: A Biographical Essay) take arguably more original approaches, but American academic Neil Schaeffer's thorough, carefully researched and argued book is more likely to appeal to the general reader who knows little of Sade beyond the perversion to which he gave his name. In fact, Schaeffer contends, the marquis was hardly a textbook sadist: he liked to be beaten at least as much as he enjoyed inflicting pain, which was a pastime he pursued primarily in his books' scatological fantasies. The author generally attempts to temper Sade's dreadful reputation, placing his escapades with prostitutes and menservants in the European tradition of aristocratic libertinism and pointing up the witty irony as well as the obscenities in works like The 120 Days of Sodom ("the most radical novel ever written"). It's not exactly a pretty picture, but Schaeffer makes a plausible case that the man imprisoned by both royal and revolutionary regimes posed more danger through his unfettered imaginings than through anything he actually did. --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

The '90s have been a banner decade for "the Divine Marquis": six biographies, an A&E film and an upcoming book of previously unpublished letters all seek to illuminate the man after whom "sadism" was named. Hence, Brooklyn College professor Shaeffer will suffer for his timing. Several years ago, Maurice Lever was hailed for offering an exhaustive and balanced view in Sade: A Biography. He was followed, last fall, by Francine du Plessix Gray, whose engaging At Home with the Marquis de Sade took on the previously neglected, but dramatic, relationships Sade had with his loyal wife and his vengeful mother-in-law. Then came Laurence Bongie's Sade: A Biographical Essay, a hearty attempt to undercut the growing Sade myth. Schaeffer does take a somewhat different approach, defending the marquis as a man of his time. Using somewhat old-fashioned Freudian theory to excuse, or at least explain, his subject's "outr?" behavior, Schaeffer finds that Sade had a "sweet" side and "yearned for the embrace of a mother." Schaeffer is far more successful in recounting Sade's adventures. He does so with great relish and facility, and his book is often as riveting as a tightly drawn historical novel. Sade's first arrest, for accidentally poisoning a prostitute, began with a lengthy manhunt; once captured, the marquis managed to escape from prison. He was subsequently arrested many times, for writing pornography and for political reasons, and committed to a madhouse. In a stroke of bad luck, he was transferredAfor poor behaviorAfrom the Bastille only 10 days before it was liberated. Though well researched and accessible, Schaeffer's uneven effort to distill the man from the myth is unlikely to make much of a dent in the growing body of Sade studies already available.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 567 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (March 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679404074
• ISBN-13: 978-0679404071
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,309,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so interesting book about an interesting man., October 31, 2004

By	Dumb boy (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Marquis De Sade: A Life (Paperback)

Schaeffer has clearly done his homework on the Marquis de Sade however I didn't want to know every single piece of information he found. Far too much of the book is spent covering the same areas, like Sade's ongoing financial issues, while the end of Sade's life is covered comparitively briefly. There is also an assumption that all readers are fluent in French. I'm not so a lot of titles and French expressions were lost on me. There may not be exact translations into English but giving at least a general idea of the meaning would be helpful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not your average French Aristocrat, March 28, 2003

By	JRO (SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Marquis De Sade: A Life (Paperback)

Having seen the movie Quills some time ago I was interested to learn more about the historical Sade. Schaeffer provides a very thorough account of Sade's 74 years. The numerous excerpts from his letters give the reader an opportunity to get to know the real Sade. Much of the myth of this interesting writer is dispelled, but one can clearly see how they came into existence. My final impression of Sade is of a man of extremes, especially in his literature, who desperately sought to find his place in a society that he found too conservative for his liberal sexual views. Overall the book was an enjoyable and interesting read. I came away not only with more knowledge of Sade, but also of the French Revolution and prison practices during that era. I recommend this book to history buffs and those who enjoy biographies. The Marquis de Sade was definitely not you average ordinary French aristocrat.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Power and the intricacies of paranoia, July 31, 2001

By	C. Middleton (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Marquis De Sade: A Life (Paperback)

Schaeffer's De Sade is a noble and successful attempt at historical revisionism; this work painstakingly strips away the mythological Marquis de Sade as [a] monster, and elegantly reveals a literary genius, a victim of the aristocracy, who's life mission was to explore and rationalize the dark side of human nature.

One would not be remiss in calling the Marquis the father of libertinism. His life and work exemplifies the libertine ethos, that is, "rules are meant to be broken, that the laws of religion and society are artificial limitations without intrinsic value, and that the only law is the law of nature that authorizes any action for the sake of pleasure." (359) The irony, however, is that the king of libertinism spent the majority of his life behind bars, pushing the bounderies, breaking the rules of imposed morality with only his pen and an imagination geared to fulfil his every bent desire. As Schaeffer points out, the greater irony was behind the 18th century pomp and circumstance of the French aristocracy, de Sade's '120 Days of Sodom' barely scratches the surface of how these priviliged wigged lunatics really spent their time. De Sade's true nemesis was a woman: Mme de Montreuil - de Sade's mother in law. She wanted the man out of the way and she succeeded without question.

As a study of character and the way the human mind reacts while incarcerated, this book is a revelation. Of course, similar to most criminals, de Sade believed himself to be innocent; his predicament was always someone else's fault. To a large extent, he was right. But paranoia is a strong emotion, an exaggerated fear of the world against you: jailed for decades for no apparent "real" reason, one's mind will find a reason. Conspiracy theories provide answers and meaning to one's life - or at least an explanation for one's suffering. De Sade's theories, understandably, went beyond the pale. If anything, this biography is a fine study of how far a creative mind will reach for answers when backed against a wall. The letters between de Sade and his wife, Renee, while in prison, would be substantial material for any in-depth study or research project on the intricacies of paranoia. Renee would be the subject of another biographical study of equal stature to de Sade. What a fascinating individual. Reading only the fragments of these letters in the book is worth the time.

The Marquis de Sade would like us to believe that he is a martyr, a victim of hypocricy and social power. This book certainly argues this view well. But de Sade is about extremes; taking our base desires and making them realities, and philosophically justifying these base desires as natural. This argument doesn't work, because to live in society we must abide by the social contract - otherwise there is no society. De Sade, through his literature, showed us how far the imagination could travel to its darkest depths. Compared to the horrors of the twentieth century, however, de Sade's sexual and cruel exploits seem almost quaint.

Reading this book is well worth the effort, if one is interested in the nature of power, the intricacies of paranoia, and an honest account of a man of letters who ranks amongst the best. Neil Schaeffer should be commended.