Laforgue's collection of stories, the Moralites legendaires, freely modernizes established stories of literary tradition according to the stereotypical preoccupations of 1880s Decadence. In this first complete study of the Moralites in any language, Laforgue's stories emerge as brilliant examples of parody in its most creative form, among the most original prose creations of the late nineteenth century. Laforgue is known to most English-speaking readers as an influence on T. S. Eliot. In France he is considered a major writer, alongside Symbolist writers such as Baudelaire,...