Jean Cayrol is one of the most original writers of his generation. He has been enormously prolific, always innovative, and consistently well reviewed. His works include some twenty-five novels, several novellas and short stories, over fifteen volumes of poetry, screenplays, television scripts, and essays on a wide range of topics. His poetry has been praised by Max Jacob, Albert Béguin, and Claude Roy. His novels have been admired by Roland Barthes, Jean Ricardou, Philippe Sollers, Yves Bonnefoy, and Alain Bosquet. He was a well-respected editor at Editions du Seuil where, in 1956, he founded a successful collection of first works by new writers. He has enjoyed a place near the center of French literary life for more than half a century, while always retaining his own individual voice. He was elected to the Académie Goncourt in 1974.

Cayrol's work constitutes a sequence, a personal odyssey. Three...