Necrophilia Variations

Résumé : Necrophilia Variations is a literary monograph on the erotic attraction to corpses and death. It consists of a series of texts that, like musical phrases, take up the theme and advance it by means of repetition, contrast, and variation. Written in a style that ranges from the lugubrious to the ludicrous -- from purple prose to black humor -- Necrophilia Variations uses literary means to probe the psychopathology of sexual perversion. Eros, the book asks, is naturally drawn to beauty, and yet nothing would seem to be less inherently beautiful than a cadaver. How is it that a necrophile ends up confusing the two, discovering beauty in what most people would find repugnant? How does he come to desire that which would seem to be intrinsically undesirable? If you have ever contemplated the curious points of contact between eros and thanatos -- if you have ever wondered why femmes fatales are alluring, or why sex can be made more exciting by games that simulate danger and pain, or why that bit of French slang that deems orgasm a "little death" seems so appropriate -- then Necrophilia Variations will be sure to delight you with its depictions of death, desire, and deviance.