The life and works of surrealist Philippe Soupault (1897-1990) : parallel lives

The first study in English devoted to Philippe Soupault, one of the founder-members of the Surrealist movement.

Although he regarded himself primarily as a poet, he also wrote novels, a number of plays, and a heterogeneous set of biographical or critical studies.

In addition, his activity in publishing brought him into contact with international authors, and his work as a journalist enabled him to report first-hand on Hitler's rise to power, and to compare conditions in the Soviet Union and the United States in the early 1930s.

This study examines questions of truth and fiction, the reliability of memory, modes of writing, and the problems these pose for biographer and/or critic.