René Allendy – The Double

I would like to write a Book which would drive men mad, which would be like an open door leading them where they would never have consented to go, in short, a door that opens onto reality. —Antonin Artaud

From Book 3: The Lecture at the Sorbonne

On the night of Artaud’s lecture on “Theatre and the Plague,” Desnos had his radio show to do, and Louis was showing his paintings to an interested buyer, and I could not find Sonia or Anita, so I went to the Sorbonne alone and located Dr. Allendy’s lecture hall. The square Amphithéâtre MicheletContinue reading “From Book 3: The Lecture at the Sorbonne”

From Book 3: Nin and the Cane

Author’s note: Artaud’s cane disturbed people, but Breton had one (and he used it as a weapon), Anaïs Nin’s father had one (and killed a cat with it), and Nin’s lover/psychoanalyst René Allendy beat her with one – but only Antonin Artaud got locked up in asylums. Though Artaud’s later embrace of celibacy (or shamContinue reading “From Book 3: Nin and the Cane”

From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part One

Author’s note: If I could go back in time I would definitely protect him from this venomous female. In the light from the lamp in the kitchen we ate and listened to the storm. I saw him examine me for a moment before he spoke again. I wasn’t so dim that I could notContinue reading “From Book 3: The Sins of Nin, Part One”