"This volumes of Sade's prison correspondence covers a 13 year period from 1777 to 1790. He writes to his devoted wife; his detested mother-in-law, who put him in jail to save the family name; his so-called friends; his jailers; his business associates and employees. From ever danker and drearier cells he rails at the hypocrisy of those who condemn him for "crimes" of which many of his accusers are equally as guilty. To his wife he reveals a more vulnerable side, quite at odds with his popular image as a madman and sadistic pervert."

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