And each magnificent color photograph is accompanied by a short extract from the novel. Shooting entirely in Paris and its environs, Doris Kloster has succeeded in matching characters, locations, costumes and props to the original descriptions. The Illustrated Story of O presents over 50 superb images which mirror perfectly the intense eroticism of the novel. She has created a photographic representation of one of the most famous and controversial erotic novels ever published. Now Doris Kloster, a photographer specializing in issues of women's sexuality and power, has realized a long-standing dream. Revelling in pure fantasy, its theme is total submission through love to excesses of sadism and masochism, and the bond of „ownership.” It describes in cool, elegant language the experiences of a young woman as she willingly enters a dark maze of perverse sexual practices within a clandestine amoral society. When Story of O was first published in 1954 in Paris by Jean-Jacques Pauvert, it narrowly escaped censorship by the Department of the Interior and eventually became the most widely translated French novel in the world. And I expected to cause a shock.”-Jean-Jacques Pauvert, from the Introduction I perceived the promise of a new freedom. The audacity of this novel seemed to me to be liberating rather than provocative. „…I was convinced that Story of O was going to revolutionize the book trade, that I would sell hundreds of thousands of copies across the world, and that moral attitudes would change overnight.

Story of O by Pauline Réage