Author of a small but influential body of work, Louis-René des Forêts has played an important role in the postwar movement in France that has sought to question, to renovate, and to transform traditional modes of narration. In addition to writing in several genres, des Forêts has done translations, coedited a literary review, drawn and painted; he has dreamed of making motion pictures and played small parts in obscure films. His influence may be seen in the work of writers as diverse as Albert Camus and Marguerite Duras.

Born in Paris on 28 January 1918, Louis-René des Forêts comes from a long line of distinguished naval officers on his mother's side. As a young boy, he spent the winter months with his family in Paris and the summer months at a country house in the Berry region of France. The house, called...