Marcel Proust (1871-1922) spent fourteen years creating A la recherche du temps perdu (‘In Search of Lost Time’), his seven-volume magnum opus. He died when only half of it was in print, and thus didn’t see it become one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. Today this novel still garners extraordinary levels of critical attention, and Proust’s habits, health and sexual preferences continue to keep commentators and fans occupied. In this concise biography, Adam Watt explores the life of a writer whose every experience was stored, dissected and redeployed within a vast fictional work.