Peter Owen modern classic
2 total works
Jacques Forestier, the central character of Cocteau's famous first novel from 1921, is a parasite and dilettante who responds readily to beauty in both sexes. Leaving his provincial family he comes to Paris to study for his degree. Indulging in a life of dissipation with a group of students and their mistresses, he falls in love with Germaine, a chorus girl kept by a rich banker. The affair, doomed from the start, forces Jacques to come to terms not so much with society as he finds it but with himself.
The semi-autobiographical narrative describes a youth's love affairs with a succession of boys and men during the early years of this century. The book ends with a strong plea for male homosexuality to be accepted without censure.