Bel-Ami

Bel-Ami is the second novel by French author Guy de Maupassant published in 1885; an English translation titled Bel Ami or The History of a Scoundrel: A Novel first appeared in 1903. The story chronicles Georges Duroy’s corrupt rise to power. Georges a down-and-out journalist comes from a humble background yet concocts a spectacular rise to the top of Parisian society most of which he achieves by manipulating a series of powerful intelligent and wealthy mistresses. “Bel Ami” is not only a vivid portrait of a glamorously crooked and long-vanished Paris but also a strikingly modern depiction of the destructiveness of unconstrained Ambition Sex and power.