The Wild Ass's Skin

Ruined and resolved to die, young Raphaël de Valentin enters an antique shop whose owner sells him a wild ass's skin covered in signs. The talisman grants its holder every wish, but shrinks with each one, and his life shrinks with it. Made rich overnight, Raphaël begins to count his desires as one counts one's days. The novel explores desire, the spending of oneself and the gap between wanting and being able in the Paris of the July Monarchy. Balzac opens the Human Comedy with a philosophical tale built on close social observation.