Guilty

Georges Bataille (1897–1962) , a medievalist librarian by training, founded the College of Sociology and the secret society Acéphale. He was equally famous for his contributions to French literature, art criticism, anthropology, philosophy, and theology. Bane of theologians, existentialists, and surrealists during his lifetime, he became an essential reference for the poststructuralist generation of French intellectuals, including Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Stuart Kendall is a writer, editor, and translator working at the intersections of modern and contemporary art and design, critical theory, poetics, and theology. He is the author of the critical biography Georges Bataille and has also edited and translated two other books by Bataille, The Unfinished System of Nonknowledge and The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and Culture, along with works by Maurice Blanchot, Paul Eluard, Jean Baudrillard, and Guy Debord. He is the editor of the online magazine Design/Culture/Criticism.

"This important new edition and translation of French philosopher and poet Georges Bataille's wartime diary, first published in 1944, stands as a crucial record of the intimate thoughts and imagery that would become the ground for his later, and better known, works on eroticism and mysticism … Highly recommended." — CHOICE

• AcknowledgmentsTranslator’s Introduction: Autobiographia AtheologicaIntroductionFriendshipNight"Gratified Desire"AngelThe Point of EcstasyThe AccompliceUnfinishableThe Misfortunes of the Present TimeExodusSolitudeLuckSinThe Attraction of GamblingThe Divinity of LaughterExpirationThe Need for LaughterLaughter and TremblingWillThe King of the WoodAppendicesLetter to XFragment on Knowledge, Action, and InterrogationTwo Fragments on the Opposition between Human Beings and NatureFragment on ChristianityFragment on GuiltTwo Fragments on LaughterAlleluia: The Catechism of Dianus