Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant's creative output surrenders many of the secrets Madame de Maupassant thought would be forever concealed. His life, like the lives of most exceptional men, came under the influence of great forces. In his case his family and his chosen profession sharing in shaping him along with the lure of the sea, the tragic debacle of war, and the mental illness which, though a final victor over his strength, was not at all times a negative force in his career. To understand more thoroughly these forces, especially the latter one, this biography focuses upon the work. There are very excellent biographies of Maupassant as others saw him. This study aims at discovering the Maupassant who was watching himself row, sit at Flaubert's feet, write and wrestle with his malady. - Frontispiece.