The master absurdist's inaugural collection contains his hand-picked favorites from the pages of "Le Chat Noir" the bohemian journal that amused and scandalized Paris. Here you'll find Allais in the first flush of his comic genius, spinning out elegant and hilarious gems of black humor on suicide, murder, obsession, and adultery. You will meet the philosophical cuckold, the young lady in love with a pig, the inventor of the Tumultoscope, and Ferdinand, the most resourceful duck in literature. Among the highlights is Allais's most famous story, "A Thoroughly Parisian Drama," a favorite of André Breton and Umberto Eco. This is the book's first publication in English, and features seven additional stories from "Le Chat Noir," as well as a sublime introduction, notes on the text, and drawings by Doug Skinner. Belly laughs guaranteed.