CxD Books of '23 #9: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An Event, Perhaps: A biography of Jacque Derrida
This book felt to me like a condensed summary of the seven years of graduate study for my PhD in English literature; it answers the question “What are those ‘theory’ weirdos up to anyway and does any of it actually matter?”
Don’t be shy, the water’s fine. Cold-tingly and invigorating, but you’ll feel way more zesty for having taken a swim—and not just your head but your sense of ethics, too. Lost a star in the ratings due to the density of the material, but if you go slow, it’s not deliberately opaque.
Inside you’ll find Derridaean jewels like:
I want to reread the entire corpus platonicum and to settle into it as if into a very refined brothel, with confessionals and peepholes everywhere, mysteries without the slightest vulgarity.
And:
Whatever precautions you take so the photograph will look like this or that, there comes a moment when the photograph surprises you. It is the other’s gaze that wins out and decides.”
"If things were simple, word would have gotten around." - Jacques Derrida
Bonus podcast episodes with the author in which to further explore the implications of this profound thinker and window-scrubber of that which deceives us:
“Today I talk with Peter Salmon, author of An Event, Perhaps; an intellectual biography of Jacques Derrida. Our conversation was rich: We tackle Derrida and Buddhism, Derrida and the culture wars, Derrida and practice. Foucault gets a mention, as does Heidegger, as does spiritual enlightenment, mindfulness and spirituality. Our conversation was incomplete. We made plans. This is now the first part of a two part conversation. The second helping is going to be even more Budhistsy.”
“In an historic event, the second Buddha himself Nagarjuna returns from the dead to team up with Jacques Derrida, non-Buddha, perhaps, to take on emptiness. They clash with identity politics. Bump into Jordan Peterson and the misses, and go for a coffee with John Gray. What you say? All of that in a single episode! Yes, dear listener. All of that in a single episode. You are called to enjoy the second part of my extended conversation with Mr Peter Salmon; awesome author of An Event, Perhaps.
Added bonus: Episode features a discussion and a moment of hauntology. Pay attention so you don’t miss it…at the end.
Peter’s book An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques Derrida (Verso, 2021) is currently discounted here.”