Pierre Drieu la Rochelle's harrowing novel of modern decadence and despair, now available again in a new translation. A vitalist writer's portrait of modern existential malaise, exemplified in the life of a young drug addict, a man who can see through the emptiness of domesticated half-life, but who finds no outlet for his drives, no line of escape. "Very few novels of this period have portrayed in such realistic terms the complete isolation of the individual in a world where even the most elementary communication is impossible." - Thomas Hines