From a prison cell, a man recounts his travels across Europe in the 1930s—as a vagabond, pickpocket, and occasional prostitute—in pursuit of spiritual fulfilment through erotic trysts and evil deeds. First published in France in 1949, Jean Genet's iconic work of autobiographical fiction is inseparable from Jean-Paul Sartre's preface, while in her introduction, Patti Smith testifies to the novel's enduring relevance as a sensuous and philosophical reverie on freedom within confinement.