Philosopher, film star, father of 'post truth': the real story of Jacques Derrida

Who was Jacques Derrida, and why does he have such a towering, and foreboding reputation across modern philosophy? For some he is the source of the crisis of alternative facts. For far right terrorist Anders Brievik, 'Derridian deconstruction' was the cause for the end of truth. In 1992, 18 philosophers wrote an open letter to the Times to complain when he was awarded an honorary degree by Cambridge University. For others, he is a film star thinker who covered every possible subject from literature, politics, and language.

Born in Algiers, the young Jackie, named after a character in a Chaplin movie, only to change to Jacques once he moved to Paris, was always an outsider. Here, despite an obvious genius, he found it difficult to find himself. However, in 1967, he changed the whole course of philosophy in one go: with the development of the ideas of deconstruction. Immediately, his reputation as a complex and confounding thinker was established. Feted by some, abhorred by others, Derrida's influence across late 20th century thought is unquestionable. And here Peter Salmon introduces the key concepts, showing that, despite the impression of being eclectic, Derrida was a writer who spent his life on a series of interlinked themes: ethics, friendship, language.

Accessible, provocative and beautifully written, An Event, Perhaps introduces to a new readership the life and thinking of a philosopher whose influence over the 21st century is likely to be as important as it was on the previous century.

"A precise intellectual biography ... Salmon's ability to render the man and the mind behind Derrida's "notoriously difficult" style accessible make this volume a rich resource for both newcomers to, and fans of, "one of the great philosophers of this or any age." - Publishers Weekly

"Brilliant ... one of the clearest introductions to 20th-century continental philosophy available ... [a] scintillating account of [Derrida's] life and thought" - Prospect magazine

"[Salmon] render[s] Derrida's thought accessible ... he shows how structuralism soon lost its purchase, as Derrida ... laid waste to what he saw as its hollow metaphysical certainties." - The Critic

"Thrilling ... [Salmon] could hardly have written a timelier reminder that Derrida's 'thinking is a crucial component of any future philosophy; that his thinking is immediately - always already - applicable to the world as we find it; and that this application has political heft'." - Times Higher Education

"Accessible, provocative and beautifully written" - Progressive Geographies

"Written in clear and effective prose, Salmon's biography provides a concise account of Derrida's development from his student days in Algiers to international renown and revilement by looking at the problems that he was trying to solve." - The Battleground

"An Event, Perhaps is certainly timely. It appears in an era when, not for the first time, varieties of critical thought are being accused of a contradictory array of culture-war crimes and political upheavals." - Guardian

"Excellent ... The great merit of Salmon's book is that it is clearsighted and readable." - Literary Review

"A rigorous intellectual biography ... [Salmon] succeeds in making accessible the work of a notoriously difficult writer." - Irish Times

"In An Event, Perhaps, Derrida's intellectual development is adroitly unpacked by Peter Salmon without bamboozling the reader or peddling dime-store psychologizing." - PopMatters

"Excellent" - Five Books

"Rigorous and revelatory ... Salmon's lucid exposition will be indispensable to anyone who wants to understand Derrida's key ideas ... a triumph" - John Gray

"Brief, well-written and rather moving.Salmon guides us . with clarity, wit and self-deprecating humour" - New Humanist

"An Event, Perhaps is not just a welcome addition to the literature on Derrida, but a hugely significant one ... a generous and learned intellectual achievement." - Inscriptions