卡斯顿·勒胡（Gaston Leroux, 1868-1927），20世纪初期法国最杰出的推理小说作家，在法国有“永恒的记者”之称。勒胡毕业后在一家律师事务所做书记员，业余创作随笔和短篇小说。1890年开始投身报业，曾作为特派记者周游世界各地。1900年开始创作长篇小说。他的小说风格诡异，擅长以不可思议的内容与场景营造恐怖玄异的气氛，并且在恐怖中淋漓尽致地表达人性。他的著作《黄色房间之谜》被称誉为“不可模仿、不可超越的推理小说杰作”。

The Phantom of the opera , by Gaston Leroux , is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics :

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. The Paris opera is hauntedeveryone knows it. Everyone, that is, except for the new managers, who spark a violent dispute with the opera Ghost when they refuse to acknowledge his existence or submit to his demands. Sometimes surfacing as a disembodied voice in Box Five or appearing as a gentleman in evening dress with a death’s-head, the phantom is obsessed with Christine Daaé, a lovely and enigmatic novice singer endowed with an amazing voice. But impetuous Viscount Raoul de Chagny is in love with Christine, and he and his brother, Count Philippe, are swept into the phantom’s deadly illusion with horrifying consequences.

Police reports, newspaper clippings, and witness interviews help a sleuthing narrator reconstruct the events of French author Gaston Leroux ’s most famous tale, one that had a significant impact on contemporary detective fiction. First published in 1911, The Phantom of the opera has since been the basis for many adaptations, including Lon Chaney’s silent film and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony award-winning Broadway musical. Today, this thriller is recognized not only as a compelling yarn with gothic overtones, but an engrossing romance of stirring theatricality. Isabel Roche has a Ph.D. in French literature from New York University and teaches at Bennington College in Vermont. She wrote the book Character and Meaning in the Novels of Victor Hugo and has published articles in The French Review and French Forum .