In her most famous novel, Simone de Beauvoir takes an unflinching look at Parisian intellectual society at the end of World War II, fictionally relating the stories of those around her--Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler, and Nelson Algren. nAn unflinching look at Parisian intellectual society at the end of World War II. In fictionally relating the stories of those around her - Jean-Paul Satre, Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler, Nelson Algren - de Beauvoir dissects the emotional and philosophical currents of her time.