Title:  Exquisite Creatures Editor:  Jim Clyne Photography:  Gilles Larrain   Robert Mapplethorpe   Deborah Turbeville   Roy Volkmann Printing:  First Year of publication:  1985 Publisher:  William Morrow and Company City:  New York Cover:  hardcover with dust jacket Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:  84-60617 ISBN:  0-688-02496-3 Barthelme's Contribution:  Introduction p. 1-4
credit:  Gilles Larrain Laura Alvarez-Cushing
	In the contemplation of nudes, we congratulate ourselves upon the beauty of which human beings are capable. They reassure us about ourselves, about Being. We are a little lower than the angels, true, but notice that we can get along without that suspect radiance, equal parts paint and literature, on which the angels lean so heavily. The human body is, or can be, a sufficiency.