Death and Sensuality: A Study of Eroticism and the Taboo

Taboo & sacrifice, transgression & language, death & sensuality--Bataille pursues these themes with an original, startling perspective. He challenges any single discourse on the erotic. His inquiry ranges from Emily Bronte to Sade, from St. Therese to Claude Levi-Strauss & Dr. Kinsey. Subjects include mystical ecstasy, prostitution, cruelty & organized war. Investigating desire prior to & extending beyond the sexual realm, he states eroticism is "a psychological quest not alien to death."