The Indiscreet Jewels

The Indiscreet Jewels (also translated as The Talking Pussy) is perhaps the most daring of Diderot's 'philosophical' novels—a fearlessly libertine fable on the order of such ribald classics as "Boccaccio" and "Rabelais." Published in 1748, this fiction is a take-off on the erotic-oriental tales popular at the time. Set in a sultan's court in the Congo, the novel begins with Mangogul...