"Among the hundreds of artists with whom Michel Butor has published collaborations, only three are treated in this study, and the works examined here are limited to those in which the artworks preceded the texts and influenced them. The selection thus provides material for conclusions on Butor's concept of collaboration, on what he means by saying, as he has on several occasions, that the artists give him access to other rooms in his imagination.

Some of the artworks pose difficulties in interpretation, but regardless of amorphous subjects and confusing representations, Butor's creativity finds poetry in them.".

"Butor has said that all his art is political, and given his comprehensive sense of the word, the collaborations considered here exemplify his statement. Some demonstrate his love of unspoiled nature and of all animals, even insects.

His concern for humans - the oppressed, the dispossessed, the persecuted - is a constant: from discrimination against native and Afro-Americans in the U.S. to the self-aggrandizing conquests of Alexander the Great, the texts uncover and display the range and diversity of man's inhumanity to man. Such a purpose requires for achievement rhetorical art, and these collaborations in varying degrees reveal two primary devices: harmony and humor.".

"The text is complemented by seventy-four black and white illustrations."--BOOK JACKET.