"'Exciting in its mixture of fantasy, horror and hilarity.'- Daily Telegraph 'Words are used as if with a thrusting palette knife, and the effect is at once powerful and striking.' - Scotsman; 'At once the mind turns to Diaghilev and those frenzied days when the Cocteau talents took their first springtime leap. It is in the manner of a macabre ballet that the battle scenes emerge. We feel as we feel in the theatre, and not the less deeply for that.' - Guardian; 'A welcome reappearance' - Gay Times"
Jean Cocteau is regarded as one of France's greatest men of arts and letters. A multi-faceted talent and a recipient of the Legion d'honneur, he achieved distinction as a poet, playwright, and critic as well as an artist, illustrator, composer, actor, and internationally acclaimed filmmaker. He was the author of La Belle et la Bete, Les Enfants Terribles, and Opium. Gilbert Adair is the author of The Real Tadzio.