Béatrice Mousli's Biography of Philippe Soupault

Béatrice Mousli's biography 'Philippe Soupault' (Flammarion) traces the life of the Dada companion and surrealist co-founder who constantly sought escape. Soupault, a fugitive from childhood, education, groups, and influences, valued freedom above attachments. He was an editor, critic, radio personality, novelist, and poet. Key relationships included Apollinaire and André Breton, with whom he wrote 'Les Champs magnétiques' before being expelled from surrealism for refusing Breton's games. Soupault discovered and translated Lautréamont, Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Malcolm Cowley. He traveled widely, embodying a Cendrars-like restlessness. His hero, like himself, aspired to freedom and boredom without control. Though marginal, Soupault was central to surrealism's creation, contributing Isidore Ducasse to its pantheon. His interests ranged from Nick Carter and Fantômas to cinema and Charlie Chaplin, and he offered reinterpretations of Musset and Raymond Roussel. Alexandre Mare's review positions Soupault as an unclassifiable nonconformist.