This novel of decadence and debauchery, set in Bucharest in 1910, follows four characters through bars, brothels, and landscapes of travel and escape. The 1929 book is a classic of Romanian modernism.

MATEIU CARAGIALE (1885-1936) was a Romanian writer of fiction and poetry. The illegitimate son of prominent playwright Ion Luca Caragiale, Mateiu had a contentious relationship with his family. Heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, his works describe characters of uncertain ancestry, airs of fog and mystery, and plots of decadence and abasement.

SEAN COTTER is a professor of literature and translation studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.