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“But if Sade's work is to be summed up in one word, this word would not be 'sexual' or 'comic' or even 'sadistic', it would be 'transgressive'. As it systematically transgresses all sexual, social, religious and moral norms, his writing repeatedly and earnestly insists on the exquisite pleasure to be derived from this transgression.” — John Phillips
But if Sade's work is to be summed up in one word, this word would not be 'sexual' or 'comic' or even 'sadistic', it would be 'transgressive'. As it systematically transgresses all sexual, social, religious and moral norms, his writing repeatedly and earnestly insists on the exquisite pleasure to be derived from this transgression.