In an essay about infamy – the opposite of fame – entitled ‘The Life of Infamous Men’, Michel Foucault wrote that the infamous are anonymous, they are consigned to oblivion, but notwithstanding, their obscure and unhappy existences provide interesting narrative material. Included among infamous men are writers with no oeuvre or literature to their name. Éric Marty, an essayist and professor of literature, explores the mysterious relationship between literature and infamy based on this work by Foucault.