A rather deceptive gem of a book to tell you about as a way of starting off the week on Continuum Philosophy. In many ways, it should be obvious what a book called The Derrida Dictionary is all about - and, sure enough, if you pick up a copy of this book, you will indeed be getting a guide to the key terms, references and major works to be found in Jacques Derrida's extensive body of writings, arranged in an easy to access A to Z format, with terms fully cross-referenced throughout.
And yet, I think leaving it at that rather undersells a book that represents a collection of wonderfully written and suggestive mini-articles that succeeds in opening up new explorations of an incredibly diverse (and widely scattered) body of work. I can really see anyone who has already fallen under the spell of Derrida's writings and ideas having a great time getting lost in this book and finding new avenues into texts that are both familiar and unfamiliar.
I'm not the only one who has such a high opinion of the book either - we've had some incredible responses to advanced copies of the Dictionary, which was described as "a spectacular intellectual accomplishment" by J. Hillis Miller, Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California Irvine. Derek Attridge of the University of York also commented: "Doing full justice to all periods and areas of Derrida's work, [this book] succeeds in showing both his extraordinary range and the connections and continuities that link his various ventures in thought."
As you can imagine, such high praise from two such distinguished scholars, doesn't come along all that often. As ever, if you want to see for yourself what all the fuss is about, we have a free preview available and further information on the book here.
Incidentally, the author of the Dictionary is Simon Morgan Wortham, Professor of English at Kingston University, UK, who is Co-Director of the new London Graduate School at Kingston University, which we've discussed on this blog in recent months (and which will be incorporating the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy formerly based at the University of Middlesex). It promises to be a hugely exciting venture and if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, I'd urge you to do so via this link.
Happy Reading,
David
Acting Senior Editor,
Continuum Philosophy
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