Georges Bataille was a philosopher, writer, librarian, pornographer and
a founder of the influential journals Critique and Acéphale. He has
had an enormous impact on contemporary thought, influencing such writers
as Barthes, Baudrillard, Derrida, Foucault and Sontag. Many of his
books, including the notorious Story of the Eye and the fascinating
The Accursed Share, are modern classics.
In this acclaimed intellectual biography, Michel Surya gives a detailed
and insightful account of Bataille's work against the backdrop of his
life - his troubled childhood, his difficult relationship with André
Breton and the surrealists and his curious position as a thinker of
excess, 'potlatch', sexual extremes and religious sacrifice, one who
nonetheless remains at the heart of twentieth century French
thought--all of it drawn here in rich and allusive prose. While
exploring the source of the violent eroticism that laces Bataille's
novels, the book is also an acute guide to the development of Bataille's
philosophical thought. Enriched by testimonies from Bataille's closest
acquaintances and revealing the context in which he worked, Surya sheds
light on a figure Foucault described as 'one of the most important
writers of the century'.
