Download or read book The Fatal Skin written by Honoré de Balzac and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of skin that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. The magic skin represents the owner's life-force, which is depleted through every expression of will, especially when it is employed for the acquisition of power. Ignoring a caution from the shopkeeper who offers him the skin, the protagonist greedily surrounds himself with wealth, only to find himself miserable and decrepit at the story's end."--Wikipedia cited November 2018.