"The present volume contains thirty-five fairy tales by nineteen writers, presented chronologically by author"--Introduction.

The wolf is tricked by Red Riding Hood into strangling her grandmother and is subsequently arrested. Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella do not live happily ever after. And the fairies are saucy, angry, and capricious. Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned collects thirty-six tales, many newly translated, by writers associated with the decadent literary movement, which flourished in France in the late nineteenth century. Written by such creative luminaries as Charles Baudelaire, Anatole France, and Guillaume Apollinaire, these enchanting yet troubling stories reflect the concerns and fascinations of a time of great political, social, and cultural change. Recasting well-known favorites from classic French fairy tales, as well as Arthurian legends and English and German tales, the updated interpretations in this collection allow for more perverse settings and disillusioned perspectives--a trademark style and ethos of the decadent tradition.

"Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned brings together translations of 36 stories by French authors of the nineteenth-century decadent literary movement, beginning with Baudelaire. Troubling, cynical, often perverse, yet often enchanting, these twisted tales draw on old stories and myths to explore such topics as gender definitions, industrialism, the demise of magic, and the bleak future of civilization. We must marvel at the endless generativity of traditional stories."---Jo Radner, Storytelling Magazine