The author has a personal knowledge of the painter Magritte. He provides some personal details and large quantity of quotes from Magritte. Some of the text is interesting but I had great difficulty in understanding what Magritte was trying to say. The pictures of the painting are truly the most interesting part of the book. Magritte seemed fascinated with putting objects in unusual combinations and blending them together. Their seems little reason behind these combinations or modifications that are apparent to the viewer. Magritte seems to indicate that some of the paintings have meaning to him. Included are Magritte's comments on philosophy and art, which again are obscure. ( )