# Bel Ami, or The History of a Scoundrel

An audiobook by Guy de Maupassant, read by LibriVox volunteers (8 h 15 min, English).

“He had faith in his good fortune, in that power of attraction which he felt within him - a power so irresistible that all women yielded to it.” Though firmly set in 1880s Paris, Maupassant's gripping story of an amoral journalist on the make could, with only slight modifications of detail, be updated to the 1960s, to the Reagan-Thatcher years, or maybe to the present day. Anti-hero Georges Duroy is a down-at-heel ex-soldier of no particular talent. Good-looking but somewhat lacking in self-confidence, he discovers an ability to control and exploit women - whereupon his career in journalism takes off, fuelled by the corruption of colleagues and government arrivistes. He may be a provincial Don Juan, but he is neither accident-prone nor heading for a fall... A Hollywood screen adaptation is in preparation at the time of recording. (Summary by Martin Geeson)

[Listen](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/librivox/3857)
[Read the book](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/gutenberg/3733/read)

## Chapters

1. 01 - Poverty (28:00): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_01_maupassant_64kb.mp3
2. 02 - Madame Forestier (25:20): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_02_maupassant_64kb.mp3
3. 03 - First Attempts (20:03): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_03_maupassant_64kb.mp3
4. 04 - Duroy Learns Something (17:18): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_04_maupassant_64kb.mp3
5. 05 - The First Intrigue, part one (16:18): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_05_maupassant_64kb.mp3
6. 06 - The First Intrigue, part two (16:06): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_06_maupassant_64kb.mp3
7. 07 - The First Intrigue, part three (14:29): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_07_maupassant_64kb.mp3
8. 08 - A Step Upward, part one (16:04): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_08_maupassant_64kb.mp3
9. 09 - A Step Upward, part two (21:23): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_09_maupassant_64kb.mp3
10. 10 - A Duel with an End (25:34): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_10_maupassant_64kb.mp3
11. 11 - Death and a Proposal (36:34): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_11_maupassant_64kb.mp3
12. 12 - Marriage, part one (17:47): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_12_maupassant_64kb.mp3
13. 13 - Marriage, part two (19:24): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_13_maupassant_64kb.mp3
14. 14 - Jealousy (14:11): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_14_maupassant_64kb.mp3
15. 15 - Mme Walter Takes a Hand, part one (14:52): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_15_maupassant_64kb.mp3
16. 16 - Mme Walter Takes a Hand, part two (16:53): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_16_maupassant_64kb.mp3
17. 17 - A Meeting and the Result (21:36): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_17_maupassant_64kb.mp3
18. 18 - Madame Marelle, part one (22:15): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_18_maupassant_64kb.mp3
19. 19 - Madame Marelle, part two (13:32): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_19_maupassant_64kb.mp3
20. 20 - The Will (23:33): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_20_maupassant_64kb.mp3
21. 21 - Suzanne, part one (18:05): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_21_maupassant_64kb.mp3
22. 22 - Suzanne, part two (17:49): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_22_maupassant_64kb.mp3
23. 23 - Divorce (18:31): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_23_maupassant_64kb.mp3
24. 24 - The Final Plot (19:40): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_24_maupassant_64kb.mp3
25. 25 - Attainment (20:03): https://archive.org/download/bel-ami_mg_librivox/belami_25_maupassant_64kb.mp3