It consists of a series of conversations about sex, gender and attraction.

Colette considered it her best book, and described it as "the nearest I shall ever come to writing an autobiography".

[1] A version of the book was first published as Ces plaisirs... ("These pleasures") in 1932.

In 1941 a substantially revised version was published as Le Pur et l'impur, which was the title Colette originally had thought of for the book.

[2] Margaret Wallace of The New York Times wrote: "On the whole, The Pure and the Impure presents a mildly interesting collection of case histories, and some of the generalizations Colette is tempted to draw from them are provocative in the highest degree.