Le Livre Blanc

the long version

Le Livre Blanc, a "white paper" on homosexual love, was first published anonymously in France by Cocteau's contemporary Maurice Sachs and was at once decried as by the critics as obscene. It is now possible to issue it under Cocteau's name. The semi-autobiographical narrative describes a youth's love affairs with a succession of boys and men during the early years of this century. The young man's self-deceptive attempts to find fulfilment, first through women and then by way of the church, are movingly conveyed; the book ends with a strong plea for male homosexuality to be accepted without censure. The book is fully illustrated and includes many woodcuts by the author.