In Operratics Leiris turns his brilliant mind upon one of his major loves, opera. Approaching it as a lover of music without training, he discerns fascinating patterns of cultural movement in opera and reveals his personal tastes in this great genre.

Michel Leiris began his writing career as a poet associated with the Surrealist group, but he later made major contributions as an art critic and anthropologist, and through his great autobiographical confession, L'Age d'Homme (Manhood).