Deconstruction is no game of mirrors, revealing the text as a play of surface against surface. Its more radical philosophical effort is to get behind the mirror and question the very nature of reflection. The Tain of the Mirror (tain names the tinfoil, or lusterless back of the mirror) explores that gritty surface without which no reflection would be possible. Rodolphe Gasché does what no one has done before in many discussions of Derrida, namely to tie his work in an authoritative way to its origins in the history of the criticism of reflexivity.

"A formidable book… [A] splendidly full and orderly synthesis of Derrida’s thought, which makes a meticulous case for him as a philosopher of real substance, given the radical nature of his investigations in the philosophies of language and of meaning." - London Review of Books

"A challenging book… It is beautifully organized and clear throughout, and will repay extensive study. Gasché’s success in situating Derrida in relation to the philosophical tradition is such that it should make Derrida’s thought unavoidable (incontournable, Derrida might say) for anyone concerned, today, with the history of philosophy." - Review of Metaphysics

"A brilliant book that holds more for students of philosophy or literature than any other single work on Derrida." - Choice