Tales of Transgression

Skin in the game: librarian Megan Rosenbloom goes on a hunt for a very esoteric category of rare books

Steven Beattie July 16, 2021July 16, 2021 International Literature, Libraries, Non-fiction

As a leader of the Anthropodermic Book Project, Rosenbloom has for years been ensconced in the realm of anthropodermic bibliopegy – in lay terms, the practice of binding books in human skin.

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De Sade’s notorious manuscript scroll, an “emblem of literary and artistic freedom,” acquired by French nation for €4.55 million

Steven Beattie July 13, 2021July 14, 2021 Censorship, International Literature, Writers and Writing

The manuscript, deemed by the French government a national treasure, is one of the most controversial and frequently banned works ever published.

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Tales of Transgression: Joris-Karl Huysmans’s demonic inferno, Là-Bas

Steven Beattie June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 International Literature, Novels

Huysmans shared his protagonist’s disgust with humanity and longed to create a new kind of literature.

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