About the Author
Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893) was born near Dieppe, France. Arriving in Paris in 1871, he spent ten years as a clerk with the Department of the Navy, working on his fiction in his spare time. His early efforts so impressed Gustave Flaubert that the elder writer took him on as a protégé. His first collection of stories, published in 1881 was a great success. In addition to writing over 300 short stories—tales marked by objectivity and a highly controlled and economic style—he also published six novels and three travel books. Maupassant is considered one of the founders and finest exponents of the modern “naturalistic” short story.
