von Soda, an author who after a chance encounter with Chester Himes published his novel, Abandon, with Olympia much to his own surprise, then followed it up with this title, The Beaten the Hungry, a far greater success. (The work was pirated in five different languages). The Beaten and the Hungry is the tale of Colette, a girl forced by circumstances into prostitution and the seedy underworld of Paris, her struggles there, the things others teach her about survival, and, betimes, the lovers she takes.