gnossienne

"No one, in his lifetime, set foot inside his room, not even that large and splendid concierge, against whom his only complaint was that she tried to force the door one day when she was worried, knowing he was ill and hadn’t been seen for a very long time! It was an extraordinary room, and the life he lived in it smacked of magic.
"It’s enough for me to say that when Milhaud, Roger Desormiere and I, with his brother Conrad, got into the room to try and sort out the layers of papers and objects covering the floor, we couldn’t begin until we’d sent two cartloads of rubbish to the public tip in Arcueil! So long after the event, I can say now that I discovered, all along one skirting board, numerous lumps of excrement, hardened and blackened with age, which I hastily stuffed into newspapers so that Satie’s brother shouldn’t see them.
"The man who emerged every morning from this unbelievable slum was the same man we saw strolling around Paris, looking stylish, full of energy, cheerful, spruce and clean, except when one of his long walks had left a light covering of dust on him."
-from Satie Remembered