Mademoiselle de Maupin

“I belong to a third, distinct sex, which as yet has no name: higher or lower, more defective or superior; I have the body and soul of a woman, the mind and power of a man, and I have too much or too little of both to be able to pair with either.”

This novel doesn't disappoint the fan of Decadent literature—it has all the beautiful language, sensual detail, subversiveness, and misanthropy one expects from it.