The Child of Pleasure

"The Child of Pleasure" is a prose novel by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio and is very poetic. Written simultaneously with Wild's Dorian Gray, the story is very close in spirit to it. It tells of a young and beautiful dandy and seducer Andrea Sperelli. His numerous love affairs develop alongside his romance with the diabolic femme fatale Elena Muti. Like Dorian Gray, Andrea falls because of his sins. He finds the way out of the disaster thanks to his new affection for a pure and spiritual girl. But did he manage to forget Elena?