Didier Grandsart reads a passage in French, from Brassaï's [Gyula Halász, photographer] Yellow Book, February 27, 1937: "Spent an evening with Yves Allégret at the brothel of rue de Hanovre. Yves, excited as if he'd just discovered a rare treasure, offered to show me this deluxe brothel - Paris' latest creation. In the middle of the vast room, women dance, others chat in the shadows of columns adorned with Greek statues. Yves is welcomed like a regular, with the same obliging oriental smile by the cloakroom woman, the manageress, and the Madame herself. It's a smile that plunges the visitor into this unique atmosphere where all social and moral restraints are almost abolished and the unhappiest man feels he's reached a state of grace, believing he's a super-male, the ultimate object of desire. The name 'house of illusions' is perfectly appropriate because everything colludes to create this illusion. And as in life all is illusion, this illusion could well divert a man from the path to despair."
In a collector's bookshelf, some books are identifiable by their large hardbacks, namely Taschen's The Complete Reprint of John Willie's Bizarre, 2 volumes (Vols. 1-13; Vols. 14-26), 1995; and Exquisite Mayhem: The Spectacular and Erotic World of Wrestling by Theo Ehret, 2001.
Hermann Göring and Marlene Dietrich are two of several personalities mentioned as patrons of a particular 'house of illusions' in Paris.