Editing Anne Desclos

{{Short description|French journalist and novelist (1907–1998)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| image        = Anne Desclos (cropped).jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = 
| pseudonym    = {{Plainlist|
* Pauline Réage
* Dominique Aury
}}
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|df=y|1907|9|23}}
| birth_place  = [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]], France
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=y|1998|4|27|1907|9|23}}
| death_place  = [[Corbeil-Essonnes]], France
| occupation   = {{hlist|Journalist|novelist}}
| genres       = [[prose|Fictional & critical prose]]
| notableworks = ''[[Story of O]]'' (1954)
| spouse       = {{Marriage|Raymond d'Argila|1929|end=div.}}
| partner      = {{Plainlist|
* [[Thierry Maulnier]]
* [[Jean Paulhan]]
* [[Édith Thomas]]
}}
| children     = 1
}}

'''Anne Cécile Desclos''' (23 September 1907 – 27 April 1998) was a French literary critic, journalist, and novelist who wrote under the [[pen name]]s '''Dominique Aury''' and '''Pauline Réage'''. She is best known for her erotic novel ''[[Story of O]]'' (1954).

== Early life ==
Born in [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]], Charente-Maritime, France to a bilingual family, Desclos began reading in French and English at an early age. After completing her studies at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], she worked as a journalist until 1946 when she joined [[Gallimard Publishers]] as the editorial secretary for one of its imprints where she began using the pen name of Dominique Aury.<ref>{{Cite book|last=David|first=Angie|title=Dominique Aury|publisher=LEO SCHEER|year=2006|isbn=2-7561-0030-7|location=|pages=}}</ref>

An avid reader of English literature, Desclos either translated or introduced to readers in France such renowned authors as [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]], [[Evelyn Waugh]], [[Virginia Woolf]], [[T. S. Eliot]], [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], and numerous others. She became a critic and was made a member of the jury for several{{how many|date=August 2020}} prominent [[literary awards]].

== Career ==
Desclos' lover and employer [[Jean Paulhan]], a fervent admirer of the [[Marquis de Sade]], had made the remark to her that no woman was capable of writing an [[erotic novel]]. To prove him wrong, Desclos wrote a graphic, [[sadomasochistic]] novel that was published under the pseudonym Pauline Réage in June 1954.<ref name="Ciuraru">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.guernicamag.com/features/ciuraru_6_15_11/|title=The Story of the Story of O |first=Carmela |last=Ciuraru |date=11 June 2011 |magazine=[[Guernica (magazine)|Guernica]] |access-date=31 December 2013}}</ref> Titled ''Histoire d'O'' (''[[Story of O]]''), with a sympathetic preface by Jean Paulhan which nevertheless did not reveal her identity, it was an enormous, though controversial, commercial success.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Watson|first=Sasha|date=2010-03-04|title=A review of a new graphic novel based on the pornographic Story of O.|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2010/03/a-review-of-a-new-graphic-novel-based-on-the-pornographic-story-of-o.html|access-date=2021-01-18|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}}</ref> The book caused much speculation as to the identity of the author. Many doubted that it was a woman, let alone the demure, intellectual, and almost prudish persona displayed in Dominique Aury's writings. Many well-known male writers were alternately suspected to be the author, including [[André Malraux]] and [[Henri de Montherlant]].

In addition, the book's graphic content sparked so much controversy that the following March the government authorities brought [[obscenity]] charges against the publisher and its mysterious author that were thrown out of court in 1959. However, a publicity ban and a restriction on the book's sale to [[minor (law)|minor]]s was imposed by the judge. Following the lifting of the publicity ban in 1967, the conclusion to ''Story of O'' was published under the title ''[[Retour à Roissy]]'' using the pseudonym of Pauline Réage. However, according to her recent biography by Angie David, Desclos did not write this second novel. In 1975, she did a long interview about erotic books with author [[Régine Deforges]], published by ''Story of O'' editor [[Jean-Jacques Pauvert]], yet at the time her authorship was still unknown. An English-language edition of the interview was released in the United States in 1979 by [[Viking Press]].

Eventually, Desclos publicly admitted that she was the author of ''The Story of O'' in 1994, 40 years after the book was published, in an interview with ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref name="Ciuraru"/><ref name="Bedell”B">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jul/25/fiction.features3 |title=I wrote the story of O |first=Geraldine |last=Bedell |date=24 July 2004 |newspaper=[[The Observer]]}}</ref><ref name="Kaufmann 883–905">{{cite journal|last=Kaufmann|first=Dorothy|date=1 January 1998|title=The Story of Two Women: Dominique Aury and Edith Thomas|journal=[[Signs (journal)|Signs]]|volume=23|issue=4|pages=883–905|doi=10.1086/495295|jstor=3175197|s2cid=144033427}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/08/01/the-unmasking-of-o |first=John |last=De St. Jorre |title=The Unmasking of O |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |pages=42–43 |date=1 August 1994}}</ref> She also explained the pseudonym of Pauline Réage: she chose the first name in homage to [[Pauline Bonaparte]] and [[Pauline Roland]] and she randomly picked up the name of Réage on a topographic map.

== Documentaries ==
''Writer of O'', a 2004 documentary film by [[Pola Rapaport]], mixed interviews with re-enactments of certain scenes from the book. In the documentary, the real author of ''Story of O'', Dominique Aury (actually a pen name of Desclos), talks about the book ''A Girl in Love''. This book was written about how ''Story of O'' was written.

A documentary was also made for [[BBC Radio 4]] entitled ''The Story of O: The Vice Francaise'', presented by [[Rowan Pelling]], former editor of the ''[[Erotic Review]]'', which looked at the history of the book and its author Desclos.

''[[Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality]]'', a documentary by filmmaker [[Maya Gallus]], featured the final interview with 90-year-old Dominique Aury (a pen name of Desclos) before she died. In the film, she recounts the extraordinary love story behind ''Story of O'' and marvels that she has reached such a grand age.

== Personal life ==
Desclos had a long-term relationship with her employer, [[Jean Paulhan]], the director of the prestigious ''[[Nouvelle Revue Française]]'', who was 23 years her senior. She was bisexual, and had a liaison with historian [[Édith Thomas]],<ref name="nla2" /> who may have been an inspiration for the character of Anne-Marie in ''Story of O''. She had a son from a brief marriage in her early twenties.
== Legacy ==
{{See also|Story of O#Legacy{{!}}''Story of O'' § Legacy}}
In 2007, the [[National Leather Association International]] inaugurated awards for excellence in SM/fetish/leather writing. The categories include the Pauline Reage (a pen name of Desclos) award for fiction novel.<ref name="Bedell”B"/><ref name="Kaufmann 883–905"/><ref name="nla2">{{cite web|title=NLA-I Accepting Nominations for Writing Awards|url=http://www.chicagoden.net/2012/12/13/nla-i-accepting-nominations-for-writing-awards/|publisher=Chicago Den - The Midwest's Fetish Newspaper|access-date=1 April 2018|archive-date=13 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413163844/http://www.chicagoden.net/2012/12/13/nla-i-accepting-nominations-for-writing-awards/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2020, Desclos was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://leatherhalloffame.com/index.php/inductees.html |title=> Inductees |publisher=Leatherhalloffame.com |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Novels|LGBTQ|Biography}}
* ''[[Chantons sous l'Occupation]]''&nbsp;– a documentary film

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.storyofo.info/ The complete ''Story of O'' website]: all about ''Histoire d'O'' and Dominique Aury (updated)
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424584/ Writer of O], a 2004 documentary film by Pola Rapaport 
* [http://www.raintaxi.com/name-upon-name/ Name Upon Name] at [[Rain Taxi]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desclos, Anne}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century French journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century French women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century French LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:BDSM writers]]
[[Category:French bisexual women]]
[[Category:French bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Bisexual women writers]]
[[Category:French erotica writers]]
[[Category:French LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:French people of English descent]]
[[Category:French women novelists]]
[[Category:French LGBTQ journalists]]
[[Category:People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime]]
[[Category:Prix des Deux Magots winners]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous women writers]]
[[Category:University of Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Women erotica writers]]