The legendary novel Venus in Furs earned its author entry into psychology books all over the world after the German psychologist Krafft-Ebing coined the term “masochism” from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s name.

Illuminating his darkest obsessions, Sacher-Masoch created the archetypal Severin and Wanda—a “suprasensual” man who craves abuse and domination, and an idealized cruel, icy Venus come to life—literary reflections of Sacher-Masoch’s own life. As Sylvère Lotringer writes in his foreword, “In Venus in Furs reality and fantasy aren’t just intertwined, they’re indistinguishable.” A fascinating account of the pathology of submission and control, Venus in Furs bears the unmistakable mark of a literary classic.