Charlie Kaufman is one of the most well-known screenwriters in American cinema, a rare position in a field dominated by directors. His work is known for being highly inventive, self-referential, postmodern, and surreal. He wrote Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (both directed by S

Absurd, Clever, Ironic, Neurotic, Playful, Surreal

Oscar Wilde pursued a life -- an art -- of pure uselessness. This was not because he objected to pragmatic pursuits, if kept in their proper place: "We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it inten

Aestheticist fiction, Clever, Mythic, Perverse, Surreal, Witty

"In the work of every American playwright at the end of the twentieth century, there are only two stages: before she or he has read Maria Irene Fornes -- and after." Though Paula Vogel's words are a fitting tribute to this dramatist's sensitive works, it's not surprising if Fornes' name draws a b

Contemporary plays, Dark, Enigmatic, Event, Feminist theater, Ironic, Kinetic, Surreal

His artistic avocations were many -- poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, actor -- but Jean Cocteau's work as a filmmaker distilled his creative vision with a special lucidity. In film he could bring his Surrealist language and imagery together, making the dreamlike palpable and present

Existentialist literature, Horror, Surreal, Surrealist film, Surrealist literature, Surrealist photography, Trippy