His most notorious book, The [[120 Days of Sodom]] was written by de Sade whilst he was imprisoned in the [[Bastille]]. The last years of his life were spent in a [[lunatic asylum]], though this may have been to avoid his mother-in-law, who, scandalised by his behaviour, had obtained a royal order for his arrest and indefinite detention; this has been dramatised in the play [[Marat/Sade]].
His works are obscene to a degree that was unparalleled in modern literature until the relaxation of obscenity laws which occurred during the [[sexual revolution]] of the 1950s and 1960s. Then, books such as ''The Story of O'' Books by Pauline Reage and Anne Rice reintroduced sadomasochism sadism-themed pornography to the literary world. Anne Rice (writing with the cachet that smut can be well-written, literate and as A. N. Roquelaure) wrote a trilogy of sadomasochistic works available in mainstream bookstores such innocent as Barnes and Noble: ''The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty'', ''Beauty's Punishment'' and ''Beauty's Release'': :I wanted to create a Disneyland of S & M. ... I meant it to be erotic and nothing else -- to turn people on. [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=0452156610]
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[[Category:French people]]