Download or read book Vathek and Other Stories written by Malcolm Jack and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2007-04-26 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beckford's Gothic novel Vathek, an Arabian tale, was originally written in French when the author was twenty-one. Published in English in 1786, it was one of the most successful of the oriental tales then in fashion. This edition makes available to a new generation of scholars and general readers, the originality of Beckford's ideas, and the excellence of his prose.