I asked this question after first dipping my toe in French Decadent literature. Fact is: There are no obvious starting points. No monolithic writers that scream to be read first. No Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Honoré de Balzac, or Emile Zola. And even though J.-K. Huysmans’ A rebours is the movement’s bible and was one of the first books I read, I’m not sure I’d recommend it as a starting point. (Drawing: Henri Charles Guerard, Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac 1894) Luckily, there was a booming, highly-competitive newspaper industry in fin de siècle France. [For a peek into this world, read Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant]. Writers who could draw in readers were paid by the word, and the sensationalistic, lurid, and/or purposefully shocking style of Decadent fiction was perfect for that task. Many Parisian writers made a living churning out content for newspapers with the result that the short story seems to enjoy greater emphasis in Decadent literature than other literary moveme...