Machine derived contents note: General editors preface; Acknowledgements; 1. The order of mimesis: poison, nausea, health; 2. The economy of mimesis; 3. Balzac: narrative contracts; 4. Stendhal: the ethics of verisimilitude; 5. Nerval: the madness of mimesis; 6. Flaubert: the stupidity of mimesis; 7. Conclusion: mimesis, a matter for the police?; Notes; Translations; Select bibliography; Index