The Monk

As wide and eclectic as Surrealist artist Antonin Artaud’s portfolio is, it contains only one work of fiction: a reworking of Matthew Lewis’ story of sexual obsession: The Monk, of 1794. Unlike traditional translations, Artaud’s version simply used the text as a starting point as he discarded entire chapters and stamped his own distinctive identity on the work. Now, Artaud’s version is translated into English for the first time.With cover quotes from Jean Cocteau and Andre Breton.