For almost fifty years (until his death in 1963) Jean Cocteau held a unique place in French cultural life. His success in the theatre, cinema, ballet and literary world bears witness to the astounding variety of his talents and in all these fields he made many lifelong friends. It is in his portraits of them that the essence of his work can be found, for, as Margaret Crosland points out in her introduction,
'they illustrate everything in it that is accessible, sympathetic, memorable, durable, all pervading, or merely dazzling...
Through his descriptions of people we can see many aspects of his genius: the skill in selecting and translating his observations, through brilliant handling of words, into a verbal portrait or caricature...He can make a person more tangible still through the incredibly evocative atmosphere of his background: such as Proust in his cork-lined bedroom.'
