Liberty or Love! and Mourning for Mourning

Mystery, the marvelous, the city of Paris transmuted by love, and Sanglot the Corsair’s pursuit of the siren Louise Lame: these are the essential ingredients of Liberty or Love!, a masterpiece of early Surrealism written by Robert Desnos (1900–1945) and first published in 1924 to immediate acclaim. Characters appear and disappear at whim; they walk underwater and accept the most astounding coincidences with calm nonchalance. This crown jewel of Surrealist eroticism is part hymn to the eroti...