Salvador Dali has been called the first post-Freudian painter, his eccentricities, extraordinary pronouncements and dandyism fueled newspaper columns for 60 years. Yet paradoxically, he was also an unknown quantity - as he put it - "a secret within a secret". This biography aims to reveal some of Dali's secrets, and to offer insights into his world of marauding grasshoppers, crutches, decaying flesh, amorphous self-portraits and rapacious female figures. It looks at Dali's curious childhood and his complex relationship with his father. His friendships with Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunuel are discussed, and his turbulent marriage with Gala is analyzed. The author presents Dali as one of the most original and creative intellects of his age.