This book is no mere biography of composer, mathematician, and architect Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001). Here his daughter Mâkhi dives into the family archives, coming up with documents essential to understanding how he created his body of work: photos, family portraits, sketchbooks and notebooks, scores, plans… Punctuating these are his words, excerpted from correspondence and several interviews. This retrospective survey of his childhood and youth sheds light on the family tragedies and historical traumas that shaped an extraordinary figure and gave rise to his creative vision.