A story of ambition and failure, "325,000 Francs "is remarkable for its dramatic construction, vivid characterization and clear, economical style. Psychological interest centers on the relationship between the characters of Bernard and Marie-Jeanne, but they are also shown in their social setting. The presence of an observer-narrator involves the reader in a challenging way, while leaving open the interpretation of a novel which, in Vailland's words has, "toutes les faces possibles de la realite."

Includes the full French text. Notes and a detailed introduction in English put the work in its social and historical context.

Now back in print, Roger Vailland's atmospheric 1957 novel won the Prix Goncourt, and the Knopf edition was a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. The grotesque game of the Law, played in the taverns of southern Italy, is but a shadow of an even fiercer attitude to life-a potent metaphor for a vigorously hierarchical view of existence which rules over the mezzogiorno, the noonday culture of southern Italy. In this novel we are not asked to pardon or condemn the passion of Donna Lucrezia, the assured self-centeredness of the learned aristocrat Don Cesare or even the sinister desires of Matteo Brigante, the controlling godfather. "The Law is an experience I will not easily forget."-V.S. Naipaul. "Makes Mario Puzo's works look rather tame."-Antonia Fraser