Equalpartsdark,destructiveandbrilliant,Maldororblazedthewayforthe20thcentury’sboldestadventuresinart,musicandliteratureAndr矇BretondescribedMaldororas“theexpressionofarevelationsocompleteitseemstoexceedhumanpotential.“Littleisknownaboutitspseudonymousauthor,asidefromhisrealname(IsidoreDucasse),birthinUruguay(1846)andearlydeathinParis(1870).Lautr矇amontbewilderedhiscontemporaries,buttheSurrealistsmodeledtheireffortsafterhisblackhumorandpoeticleapsoflogic,exemplifiedbytheoft-quotedline,“Asbeautifulasthechancemeetingonadissectingtableofasewingmachineandanumbrella.“Maldoror’sshockedfirstpublisherrefusedtobindthesheetsoftheoriginaledition--andperhapsnobetterinvitationexiststothisbook,whichwarnsthereader,“Onlythefewmayrelishthisbitterfruitwithoutdanger.“ThisistheonlycompleteannotatedcollectionofLautr矇amont’swritingsavailableinEnglish,inAlexisLykiard’ssuperiortranslation.Forthislatestedition,Lykiardupdateshisintroductiontoincluderecentscholarship.
