The Lost Voice (1946-1961) -- The Carnal Shell (1961-1965) -- The Rhythm of Love (1965-1967) -- Exchange Beyond Language (1968-1970) -- The Silence that Attracts (1970-1972) -- The Sensual Embrace (1972-1974) -- Ultimate Fusion (1974-1978) -- Astarte (1978-1979) -- Extreme Pleasure, Extreme Pain (1980-1982) -- The Grains of Sound (1982-1986) -- Absolute Love (1986-1988) -- Seduced by the Star (1988-1991) -- Suggestions of the Infinite (1991-1996) -- Nut (1996-1998) -- Berceuse -- Appendix[: Recordings of music by Gérard Grisey ; Published scores by Gérard Grisey]

"This first biography of Grisey traces his journey from rigid Catholicism to broader mysticism; his studies in Olivier Messiaen's legendary composition class; the development of the first "spectral" works in the 1970s; Grisey's stint teaching at the University of California at Berkeley, which brought him to the brink of suicide; the development of his late, post-spectral style; and his untimely death at the age of 52, shortly after completing his masterpiece on death, 'Four Songs for Crossing the Threshold'. Drawing on original archival research, interviews with more than fifty of Grisey's colleagues, friends, and lovers, and the study of previously overlooked sketches, this biography shows the delirium and form at the heart of Grisey's life and art - the structured sensuality that allowed him to revolutionize the music of the twentieth century." [Baksidestext]