Out of the fantasies that enriched an often reclusive life, the enigmatic American artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) created a world of enchantment with his famed shadow boxes and collages. Using common objects like glasses, marbles, and mirrors, Cornell's work evokes the strangeness of the familiar and the odd familiarity of the strange.Respected art historian and friend of the artist Diane Waldman probes the elusive imagery that marks Cornell's work. Interviews with Cornell and his family and access to the artist's papers inform her text. This richly illustrated book, now available in paperback, is one of the few to cover his entire career.