Jean Cocteau: A Life

by Claude Arnaud

Overview

This passionate and monumental biography reassesses the life and legacy of one of the most significant cultural figures of the twentieth century

Unevenly respected, easily hated, almost always suspected of being inferior to his reputation, Jean Cocteau has often been thought of as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. In this landmark biography, Claude Arnaud thoroughly contests this characterization, as he celebrates Cocteau’s “fragile genius—a combination almost unlivable in art” but in his case so fertile.

Arnaud narrates the life of this legendary French novelist, poet, playwright, director, filmmaker, and designer who, as a young man, pretended to be a sort of a god, but who died as a humble and exhausted craftsman. His moving and compassionate account examines the nature of Cocteau’s chameleon-like genius, his romantic attachments, his controversial politics, and his intimate involvement with many of the century’s leading artistic lights, including Picasso, Proust, Hemingway, Stravinsky, and Tennessee Williams. Already published to great critical acclaim in France, Arnaud’s penetrating and deeply researched work reveals a uniquely gifted artist while offering a magnificent cultural history of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300182163
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	1024
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Claude Arnaud is a writer and recipient of the 2006 Prix Femina Essai. He lives in Paris, France. Lauren Elkin is a lecturer in English and comparative literature at the American University of Paris. Charlotte Mandell is an award-winning translator of more than thirty books.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Child Prodigy 13

2 Ariel 42

3 The Living God 78

4 The Molting 114

5 The War as Opera 141

6 The Ordeal of Bohemia 164

7 The Parade of Peace 183

8 With Radiguet 222

9 All Against Dada 247

10 The Miraculous Years 274

11 Genealogy of a Tragedy 317

12 The Angel's Dream 355

13 La Croix et la Bannière 405

14 "Raymond Has Returned" 433

15 The Sound of the Fall 471

16 The Tragic Years 506

17 The Decadent One 543

18 The Resurrection 585

19 The Occupied 614

20 In the Heart of the Furnace 650

21 The Universal Suspect 687

22 The Unfashionable 730

23 Who Is the Greatest Genius of the Century? 772

24 The Survivor 819

Notes 867

Additional Resources 984

Acknowledgments 991

Index of Names Cited 995

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/22/2016
Originally released in France in 2003, this sweeping biography of Jean Cocteau is now available in English for the first time. Arnaud (Chamfort: A Biography) has composed an insightful profile, rich in detail and exhaustive in its scope, that honors and illuminates its multifaceted subject, who was a poet, playwright, author, designer, and filmmaker. The dense tome traces the stormy trajectory of Cocteau’s life, beginning with an idyllic childhood shattered by his father’s suicide. Amid tragedy, Cocteau developed limitless imagination and fortitude while nurturing a versatile artistic vision that would span five decades and survive two world wars. His questionable politics, complicated sexuality, and well-documented opium addiction have often overshadowed his work, but in this passionate retelling of a life fully lived, Cocteau emerges as a butterfly from a tangled cocoon. He inspired awe and affection from a circle of artistic and intellectual luminaries that included Simone de Beauvoir, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, and Erik Satie, to name a few. Arnaud’s poetic prose, skillfully translated by Elkin and Mandell, sharp observations, and devotion to his subject make this an endlessly rewarding read and invaluable addition to readers’ understanding and appreciation of Cocteau, the masked Harlequin of French arts and letters. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Sweeping . . . insightful . . . [a] passionate retelling of a life fully lived. . . . Arnaud’s poetic prose, skillfully translated by Elkin and Mandell, sharp observations, and devotion to his subject make this an endlessly rewarding read and invaluable addition to readers' understanding and appreciation of Cocteau."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A portrait of a committed, seasoned artist. . . . Arnaud’s biography provides a useful corrective and will inspire renewed interest in Cocteau's work."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Arnaud actually succeeds in doing what seemed impossible: he gives readers one single Cocteau . . . bringing each one of the man’s many interests into clear and remarkably even-handed focus . . . a very rewarding look at Cocteau’s ‘perpetual becoming’ . . . [Cocteau] now has a big biography in English that matches the unlikely size of his life."—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

"[An] epic. . . . Readers owe Arnaud thanks. . . . Cocteau was never boring, and I can’t think of another full-dress biography with a higher laugh-out-loud count. Arnaud’s scholarly diligence is combined with imaginative sympathy; he makes not only the protagonist but the supporting characters come alive."—Kevin McMahon, Los Angeles Review of Books

"An evocation of a vanished era . . . a labor of love . . . [an] amazing story. . . . The charm of Arnaud’s book is that he seems to re-create the adolescent intensity of Cocteau’s world. . . . Reading it is like diving down to Atlantis. Take a weekend and take the plunge."—Bruce Fleming, Washington Free Beacon

"Magisterial and definitive."—Edmund White, New York Review of Books

"Arnaud is forthright without being sensationalist . . . [he] gives us Cocteau unwashed yet personally appealing."—Tim Pfaff, Bay Area Reporter

"Absorbing."—Vincent Giroud, Yale Review

"Essential reading for anyone interested in French social and cultural history spanning Proustian Paris, two world wars, the modernist movement, and after. . . . A fascinating portrait."—Keith Garebian, World Literature Today

“[Arnaud] goes beyond the myth and brings to life the cultural history of the 20th century. A remarkable accomplishment.”—C. B. Kerr, Choice

Longlisted for the 2017 Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award given by the PEN American Center

Winner of the 2017 French-American Translation Foundation book award in the nonfiction category

Won the 2017 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title

"Jean Cocteau was the artistic ringmaster of 20th century Paris. Claude Arnaud has written the definitive—and fascinating—life of this artist and impresario, and along the way has clarified mysteries about his sexuality and his collaboration with the Nazis."—Edmund White

"Arnaud’s incisive and immensely readable biography of the brilliantly witty albeit flawed Cocteau is a triumph. Thank God this essential book has finally been translated. Read it and wallow in twentieth-century art and letters."—John Richardson, author of A Life of Picasso, vols. I–III

"Claude Arnaud’s cornucopian biography give us a marvelous, if in some ways consolingly familiar, portrait of the upper echelons of Parisian aristo artistic circles. . . . Simply everybody is here: from Mistinguett to Marcel Proust, Robert de Montesquiou to Anna de Noailles, Misia Sert to Natalie Barney, we wander through an enchanted period when talent seemed to earn immediate rewards, spiced by an undercurrent of discreet homosexuality. . . . Claude Arnaud’s work is welcome for reminding us just how remarkable its subject was. It is also welcome for its argument that the twentieth century has left few artistic survivors."—Lachlan Mackinnon, Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

“Essential reading for anyone interested in French social and cultural history spanning Proustian Paris, two world wars, the modernist movement, and after . . . A fascinating portrait.”—Keith Garebian, World Literature Today

World Literature Today - Keith Garebian

“Absorbing”—Vincent Giroud, Yale Review

Yale Review - Vincent Giroud

“Arnaud is forthright without being sensationalist . . . [he] gives us Cocteau unwashed yet personally appealing.”—Tim Pfaff, Bay Area Reporter

Bay Area Reporter - Tim Pfaff

Winner of the 2017 French-American Translation Foundation book award in the nonfiction category.

French American Foundation - French-American Foundation Translation Prize

“Arnuad’s eloquent and loving portrait of his hero should persuade all but the most dogged of Cocteauphobes that we are denying ourselves a great deal of pleasure.”—Kevin Jackson, Literary Review

Literary Review - Kevin Jackson

Longlisted for the 2017 Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award given by the PEN American Center.

PEN American Center - Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award

“An evocation of a vanished era . . . a labor of love . . . [an] amazing story . . . The charm of Arnaud’s book is that he seems to re-create the adolescent intensity of Cocteau’s world . . . Reading it is like diving down to Atlantis. Take a weekend and take the plunge.”—Bruce Fleming, Washington Free Beacon

Washington Free Beacon - Bruce Fleming

“[An] epic . . . Readers owe Arnaud thanks . . . Cocteau was never boring, and I can’t think of another full-dress biography with a higher laugh-out-loud count. Arnaud’s scholarly diligence is combined with imaginative sympathy; he makes not only the protagonist but the supporting characters come alive.”—Kevin McMahon, Los Angeles Review of Books

Los Angeles Review of Books - Kevin McMahon

“Arnaud actually succeeds in doing what seemed impossible: he gives readers one single Cocteau . . . bringing each one of the man’s many interests into clear and remarkably even-handed focus . . . a very rewarding look at Cocteau’s ‘perpetual becoming’. . . [Cocteau] now has a big biography in English that matches the unlikely size of his life.”—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters

Open Letters - Steve Donoghue

“Claude Arnaud’s cornucopian biography give us a marvelous, if in some ways consolingly familiar, portrait of the upper echelons of Parisian aristo artistic circles . . . Simply everybody is here: from Mistinguett to Marcel Proust, Robert de Montesquiou to Anna de Noailles, Misia Sert to Natalie Barney, we wander through an enchanted period when talent seemed to earn immediate rewards, spiced by an undercurrent of discreet homosexuality. . . . Claude Arnaud’s work is welcome for reminding us just how remarkable its subject was. It is also welcome for its argument that the twentieth century has left few artistic survivors.”—Lachlan Mackinnon, Times Literary Supplement

Lachlan Mackinnon

"Arnaud’s incisive and immensely readable biography of the brilliantly witty albeit flawed Cocteau is a triumph. Thank God this essential book has finally been translated. Read it and wallow in twentieth-century art and letters."—John Richardson, author of A Life of Picasso, vols. I–III

John Richardson

“Magisterial and definitive”—Edmund White, New York Review of Books

Edmund White

★ 10/15/2016
It took 13 years for an English translation of this impressive biography to appear. Arnaud (Chamfort: A Biography) takes readers on a journey that presents the extraordinary but also complicated life of Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) who experienced the Roaring Twenties, two World Wars, and the rise of French cinema. Cocteau's friends, associates, and contemporaries included such notables as Jean Genet, Vaslav Nijinsky, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, Erik Satie, and Igor Stravinsky. The author's use of personal interviews and correspondence creates an exhaustive work. Despite a prolific and eclectic career as a playwright, director, novelist, librettist, and filmmaker, Cocteau struggled to establish his literary reputation, especially as a poet. Arnaud describes an individual who was often misunderstood and unfairly considered an opportunist or imitator of other writers. His depiction of Cocteau's opium addiction and attempts at detox is particularly fascinating. This work is also an excellent study of human dynamics with friends coming in and out of the artist's life. Openly gay during a time when homosexuality was still considered taboo, Cocteau always had a strong desire to please, even when it was futile. VERDICT An outstanding portrait of a chameleonic individual, this work will appeal to individuals interested in LGBTQ history, French culture, and literature.—Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

Library Journal

★ 2016-07-04
The first substantial life of the French surrealist writer and artist to appear in English since 1970.You might not have known that Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was an angst-y, tormented artist to look at him: he “always tried to put himself forward as happy and detached,” writes French biographer Arnaud (Chamfort: A Biography, 1992), and he had a happy childhood without much drama. Still, as Arnaud remarks, Cocteau wrestled for a long time with his homosexuality, a preference for men that “remained more acted than lived,” no small thing in a time when the law still weighed heavily against same-sex relationships. Arnaud accomplishes several things in this overstuffed life of the writer, artist, and filmmaker. He does much, for example, to correct the emphasis on Cocteau as eccentric artist—he was, after all, a shining light of Dadaism—that comes “to the detriment of the creator.” Focusing closely on Cocteau’s works, Arnaud ventures that he was often at his best as a collaborator, whether encouraging Marcel Proust during the long years of his writing Recherche, even if Proust may have thought of him as “a piece of furniture,” or concocting strange experiments with Pablo Picasso. In the end, Arnaud provides a portrait of a committed, seasoned artist who was, in Ezra Pound’s phrase, a vortex of energy, constantly at work, writing “on invitations, record jackets, cigarette boxes, theater programs, book covers.” If Cocteau was not well-understood in his own time, and often savaged critically, he is unjustly overlooked today. Although, for instance, he was long considered one of the trio of “uncle Jeans” of French film, the others being Renoir and Epstein, many students know him only for Orphée (1950), and although his literary production was steady, he remains known today mostly for his middle-period novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929). Concludes Arnaud, a touch hopefully, “we haven’t yet finished with Cocteau.” Arnaud’s biography provides a useful corrective and will inspire renewed interest in Cocteau’s work.

Kirkus Reviews