Raymond Radiguet was a French novelist and poet whose two novels were noted for their explicit themes and unique, classical style. A protégé of Jean Cocteau, he wrote his most famous work, Le Diable au corps (The Devil in the Flesh), at the age of 17. The novel, a controversial story of an affair between a married woman and a younger man during World War I, brought him instant fame. Radiguet's promising career was tragically cut short when he died of typhoid fever at the age of 20.