MLR, 98.4, 2003 995 focuses upon the aristocrate's role as a 'passerelle entre nature et culture' (p. 9). She is compared to an actress, performing upon the various public stages of aristocratic life, and Labouret-Grare draws a particularly interesting comparison between the Parisienne's 'promenades' and a territorial animal. The focus then turns to the 'vie de boudoir', followed by an entire chapter dedicated to 'L'Aristocrate et sa toilette', which examines the use of women's clothes, hair, and scent to indicate status, social class, or a particular character trait. Certain physical features, such as the eyes, hand, and foot, can also reveal the aristocratic blood of their possessor. Finally, LabouretGrare examines the harmony established between women and nature, and the links be? tween certain female characters and the natural elements. The second section focuses upon the two main metaphors used in Balzac's descriptions of aristocratic women: the angelic and the animal. The two are constantly contrasted with each other, some? times with reference to the same woman, and this double feminine nature leads to a 'rapprochement* of two very differentsocial types: the aristocrate and the courtisane. The third section of the book focuses on the aristocrate's poetic function within the novel. She is the archetype of the ideal woman, a model for other women to both contemplate and aspire to. Balzac's portraits of aristocratic women are grouped into a table and their content, position in the plot, presentation, focus, and in particular their role in creating antitheses, both within the portrait and between characters in a novel, are examined in great detail. Chapter 4 investigates the more disparate fragments of description of the aristocrate which are spread throughout the various novels, in par? ticular noting the expressive function of body language, while the finalchapter focuses on Testhetique du sublime', examining Balzac's gradual degradation of the sublime fromearly works such as Les Chouans to his later novels, ending with Modeste Mignon. Labouret-Grare concludes that the constant feature of Balzac's aristocrates is their dual nature: the tension created by two conflicting desires, 'entre modeles naturels et culturels, entre angelisme et perdition, entre pathetique et derision' (p. 453). It is this that prevents them from becoming stereotypes. Apart from the occasional typographical error,and perhaps a slight over-reliance on certain characters as examples, this work represents a very detailed and precise study of the role of the aristocrate in Balzac's oeuvre; the author uses a wide range of examples to illustrate her points, and provides a comprehensive bibliography for those considering furtherstudy. University of Leeds Sarah F. Donachie Traces de I'exces: essai sur la nouvellephilosophiquede Balzac. By Scott Lee. (Roman? tisme et Modernites, 51) Paris: Champion. 2002. 180pp. ISBN 2-7453-0573-5. For too long, Balzac's shorter fictionhas been the Cinderellaof his output, with, until recently, no substantial study since D. F. McCormick's Balzac et la nouvelle (Paris: Nizet, 1973). But latterly there has been a significant resurgence of interest, with a special number of L'Ecole des Lettres (no. 13,1998-99, with another to come), my own Balzac's Shorter Fictions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), and the present volume by Scott Lee. Lee covers fivestories from the Etudes philosophiques, and from the period 1830-35 in Balzac's career, devoting essays to Un drame au bord de la mer, Le Chef-d'osuvre inconnu, Adieu, L'Auberge rouge, and Melmoth reconcilie; they are preceded by an introduction and a brief conclusion. The fivenarratives are explored through the theme of excess: Lee's starting point is Proust's countess's remark, 'Moi, je n'aime pas Balzac, je trouve qu'il est exagere', from which he moves, somewhat syllogistically, but rather more interestingly than had he kept to the tired theme of Balzac's 'exaggeration', to explore the excessive behaviours of Balzac's protagonists and narrators in these stories, each via a determinant theme?in Un Drame 'le nom', in 996 Reviews Adieu and L'Auberge rouge 'le temoignage', in Melmoth reconcilie 'le don', and performatively in Le Chef-d'ceuvre inconnu. The approach is broadly deconstructionist, but the theoretical pedal is used deftly...