They focus on the complexity of close relationships: between lovers, as in the poignant fantasy 'A Parisian Affair' or the touchingly ironical 'The Jewels'; between siblings, as in 'At Sea'; and between former partners, as in 'Encounter.' They reveal two sides of human nature: its grace and generosity, and also, as in 'Boule de Suif,' its greed and hypocrisy. Piquant and varied, Maupassant's stories lay humanity bare with deft wit and devastating honesty.Boule de suif --A Parisian affair --A woman's confession --Cock crow --Moonlight --At sea --Amillion --Femme fatale --Monsieur Jocaste --Two friends --Awakening --The jewels --Train story --Regret --Minor tragedy --The christening --Coward --Rose --Idyll --Mother Sauvage --Madame Husson's rose king --Encounter --Happiness --A bit of the other --Love --Hautot & son --New year's gift --The Horla --Duchoux --The lull-a-bye --Mother of invention --Who knows? --Laid to rest --The necklace.

    In addition to the poignant title story, this selection of 27 comic and cruel stories includes The Necklace and Le Horla, an account of a disintegrating personality that chillingly parallels the author's own decline into madness.Out on the RiverSimon's DadFamily LifeA Farm Girl's StoryA Day in the CountryMarrocaCountry LivignRiding outA Railway StoryOld MilonOur Chum PatienceA Coup d'EtatThe ChristeningCocoA CowardThe PatronThe UmbrellaThe NecklaceStrollingBed 29The GamekeeperThe Little Roque GirlMademoiselle PearlRosalie PrudentOur SpotClochetteLe Horla