FROM THE PUBLISHER

A timely collection of essays, the first to be published in English on the work of Maurice Blanchot. One of the major thinkers of this century, Blanchot--a contemporary of Bataille and Levinas, whose work has influenced Derrida and Foucault, among others--demonstrates the radical philosophical import of literature and has renewed the debate over the ontological and ethical questions raised by works of art.

Commentators consider Blanchot from a variety of perspectives, including: Simon Critchley on Blanchot's "Il y a"; Rodolfe Gasche on the "Null Space of Literature"; Gillian Rose on death; a previously unpublished letter by Blanchot explaining his political position in the 1930s; Jeffrey Mehlman's "Pour Sainte Beuve" and Roger Laporte on Blanchot today. This is a crucial selection on a philosopher who commands widespread, fervent interest from students of philosophy, literature and French studies.