A Derrida Reader - by Jacques Derrida (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the only available collection of Jacques Derrida's contributions to philosophy, presented with a comprehensive introduction. From Speech and Phenomena to the highly influential "Signature Event Context," each excerpt includes an overview and brief summary.

Book Synopsis

Jacques Derrida is one of the most prolific and influential contemporary French intellectuals. Twenty-two essays and excerpts from Derrida's writings over the last twenty-five years are gathered in this accessible introduction, A Derrida Reader. The book's five sections are carefully introduced by the editor, and each selection of Derrida's work is presented succinctly in context. A general introduction to the volume by Peggy Kamuf provides an original interpretation and overview of Derrida's work and philosophy.

From the Back Cover

The following is not exactly a dialogue, although in places it resembles an exchange that might actually have taken place between two interlocutors. Yet, one will notice as well a certain inconstancy in this resemblance. It is perhaps a typographical rather than a dialogic form that has imposed itself here, the back and forth of more than one 'voice' requiring the convention of blank intervals across the page. These, in turn, could be thought of as the slats of a Venetian blind, or a jalousie, which partially obstructs the view.

Review Quotes

An extraordinary, subtle and informative anthology....The work is presented scrupulously, generously, with consummate art and skill, and will stand as a benchmark for Derrida studies for some time to come.-- "Substance"

About the Author

Peggy Kamuf is professor of French and comparative literature at the University of Southern California.