Mateiu Ion Caragiale was a Romanian poet and prose writer whose style, associated with Symbolism, Decadence, and early modernism, was an original element in interwar Romanian literature. He is best known for his novel, which portrays the milieu of boyar descendants before and during World War I. Caragiale also pioneered detective fiction in Romania, though his contributions in this genre are considered fragmentary. His writings, despite their scarcity, garnered critical acclaim and a large, predominantly posthumous, following.
Widely regarded as the greatest Romanian novel of the twentieth century, Mateiu Caragiale's Rakes of the Old Court follows four characters through the bars and brothels of Bucharest. The novel's shimmering, spectacular prose describes gripping vignettes of love, ambition, and decay.