The Seventh Function of Language - by Laurent Binet (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"Originally published in France by Editions Grasser et Fasquelle"--Title page verso.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><b>From the prizewinning author of <i>HHhH</i>, "the most insolent novel of the year" (<i>L'Express</i></b><b>) comes a romp through the French intelligentsia of the twentieth century.</b> <p/>Paris, 1980. The literary critic Roland Barthes dies--struck by a laundry van--after lunch with the presidential candidate François Mitterand. The world of letters mourns a tragic accident. But what if it wasn't an accident at all? What if Barthes was . . . murdered? <p/>In <i>The Seventh Function of Language</i>, Laurent Binet spins a madcap secret history of the French intelligentsia, starring such luminaries as Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Julia Kristeva--as well as the hapless police detective Jacques Bayard, whose new case will plunge him into the depths of literary theory (starting with the French version of <i>Roland Barthes for Dummies</i>). Soon Bayard finds himself in search of a lost manuscript by the linguist Roman Jakobson on the mysterious "seventh function of language." <p/>A brilliantly erudite comedy, <i>The Seventh Function of Language</i> takes us from the cafés of Saint-Germain to the corridors of Cornell University, and into the duels and orgies of the Logos Club, a secret philosophical society that dates to the Roman Empire. Binet has written both a send-up and a wildly exuberant celebration of the French intellectual tradition.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>No small pleasure is to be had from the amusing, sometimes scabrous, satirical portraiture of illustrious figures . . . It is as if a roman policier has collided with the kind of campus novel Kingsley Amis would have written had he been of the generation and temperament to read Derrida's <i>Of Grammatology</i>. On its surface [<i>The Seventh Function of Language</i> is] a romp, then, a burlesque set in a time when literary theory was at its cultural zenith; knowing, antic, amusingly disrespectful and increasingly zany as it goes on . . . <b>--Nicholas Dames, <i>The New York Times Book Review</i></b> <p/>A cunning, often hilarious mystery for the Mensa set and fans of Umberto Eco's <i>The Name of the Rose</i> and Tom Stoppard's <i>Arcadia . . . </i>In addition to some challenging thickets of language theory, the novel is packed with drama -- car chases, mutilations, suicide, graphic sex, and multiple murders . . . Sam Taylor's deft translation encompasses heavy linguistic exegeses, political discussions, oratory duels, and even some puns, including echo and Eco . . . <b>--Heller McAlpin, <i>NPR</i></b> <p/>"An affectionate send-up of an Umberto Eco-style intellectual thriller that doubles as an exemplar of the genre, filled with suspense, elaborate conspiracies, and exotic locales." <b>--<i>Esquire</i></b> <p/>[Binet] ups the metafictional ante with <i>The Seventh Function of Language </i>. . . This novel is alive with the potential signifiers lurking behind language . . . A charming roman à clef like no other . . . [A] loving inquiry into 20th-century intellectual history that seamlessly folds historical moments . . . into a brilliant illustration of the possibilities left to the modern novel. --<b><i>Publishers Weekly </i>(boxed and starred review)</b> <p/>Binet's second novel is at once a mystery and a satire of mysteries . . . A clever and surprisingly action-packed attempt to merge abstruse theory and crime drama. <b>--<i>Kirkus Reviews</i></b></p><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><p><b>Laurent Binet</b> was born in Paris, France, in 1972. His first novel, <i>HHhH</i>, was named one of the fifty best books of 2015 by <i>The New York Times</i> and received the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman. He is a professor at the University of Paris III, where he lectures on French literature. His other novels include<i> The Seventh Function of Language </i>and<i> Civilizations.</i> <p/><b>Sam Taylor</b> has written for <i>The Guardian</i>, the <i>Financial Times</i>, <i>Vogue</i>, and <i>Esquire</i>, and has translated such works as the award-winning <i>HHhH</i> by Laurent Binet and the internationally bestselling <i>The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair</i>by Joël Dicker.</p>
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