Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a philosopher, writer and literary critic who had an enormous impact on the thinking of Foucault, Derrida and Baudrillard. In this acclaimed intellectual biography Michel Surya examines Bataille's oeuvre against the backdrop of his life, showing that the essence of his life and work were defined by transience and effacement. His troubled childhood, his relationship with surrealism and his paradoxical position at the heart of twentieth-century French thought are vividly brought to life by testimonies from his closest acquaintances.