Paini, Dominique, and others, Cocteau, Center Pompidou, 2004.

This book is a collection of fascinating essays on Cocteau's life and art. The authors, some of whom knew Cocteau personally, argue that he has been severely undervalued because of his overt homosexuality and his involvement in many art forms, including plays, poetry, novels, drawing, painting, scenery design, film, and ballet (leading some to brand him a dilettante).

Seigel, Jerrold, Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics, and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life, 1830-1930, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

This book examines the part played by artists, writers, and intellectuals in the development of the bohemian counterculture in Paris. Featured figures include Cocteau, Émile Zola, Édouard Manet, and Arthur Rimbaud.

Steegmuller, Francis, Cocteau: A Biography, David R. Godine, 1992.

This popular and well-written biography makes clear why Cocteau is one of the most influential people in French art and literature. The...