The Magic Skin (also called 'The Skin of Sorrow' or 'The Wild Ass's Skin') is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honor� de Balzac (1799-1850). It is set in early 19th-century Paris and tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen (a type of animal rawhide) that aims to fulfill his desires. For each wish granted, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy, however. Although the novel uses fantastic elements, its main focus is a realistic portrayal of the excesses of bourgeois materialism. Balzac's describes a gambling house, an antique shop, a royal banquet, and other locales. He also includes details from his own life as a struggling writer. Known in French as 'La Peau de chagrin', this novel belongs to the �tudes philosophiques group of Balzac's sequence of novels, La Com�die humaine.