def METHOD_NAME(input_string):
    """
    Parse a string that contains a list of comma-separated values and return the list of values.
    Each value may be quoted with a doublequote, and doublequotes may be escaped with a backslash.
    Whitespace immediately following a delimiter is skipped.
    Raise a CompareError if the input is malformed.
    :param input_string: an input string
    :return: a list of strings
    """
    # We use Python's csv module because it supports quoted values
    try:
        reader = csv.reader([input_string], strict=True, skipinitialspace=True, doublequote=False, escapechar="\\")
        rows = list(reader)
    except csv.Error as exx:
        raise CompareError("Malformed comma-separated value: {!r}".format(input_string, exx))
    return rows[0]