"In startling new readings of Breton, Bataille, Cocteau, Artaud, Crevel and others, Justin Vicari examines intersections between surrealism and mental illness, deploying an interdisciplinary approach, including aesthetic theory, radical politics, and psychoanalysis. Of interest, the representation of the ideal woman as not only sexually available but mentally ill, a hysteric muse representing "authenticity" lost in modern life"--Provided by publisher.