Girard's masterful study of five great novelists - Cervantes, Flaubert, Stendhal, Proust, and Dostoevsky - concludes that all these novels share the same fundamental structure. While critics typically focus on the differences, Girard reveals their commonality: mimetic desire. In his study, he addresses fundamental questions of modern culture and sheds new light on emotions such as envy, jealousy, and impotent hatred (Stendhal), as well as issues related to sexuality (sadism and masochism), sociology, religion, fashion, and advertising.