Gift Certificates How to Order

Philosophy & Critical Theory Books in this online selection represent only a sliver of what we offer in the store. If you've got a particular book in mind and want to check on its availability, call us at 415-362-8193.

1 2 3 4 >>>     sort list by title | author Plato's Republic A Dialogue in 16 Chapters Alain Badiou Plato's Republic is one of the best-known and most widely-discussed texts in the history of philosophy. But how might we get to the heart of this work today, 2,500 years after its original composition? Alain Badiou breathes life into Plato's landmark... Body Drift Butler Hayles Haraway Arthur Kroker According to Arthur Kroker, the postmodernism of Judith Butler, the posthumanism of Katherine Hayles, and the companionism of Donna Haraway are possible pathways to the posthuman future that is captured by the specter of body drift. Body drift refers... A Little History of Philosophy Nigel Warburton Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them... 'Pataphysics A Useless Guide Andrew Hugill Drawing on more than twenty-five years' research, Hugill maps the 'pataphysical presence (partly conscious and acknowledged but largely unconscious and unacknowledged) in literature, theater, music, the visual arts, and the culture at large, and even... The Event of Literature Terry Eagleton What is literature? Can we even speak of "literature" at all? What do different literary theories tell us about what texts mean and do? In throwing new light on these and other questions, Eagleton offers a new theory of what we mean by literature. The Dozens A History of Rap's Mama Elijah Wald In tracing the form and its variations over more than a century of African American culture and music, The Dozens sheds fascinating light on schoolyard games and rural work songs, serious literature and nightclub comedy, and pop hits from ragtime to rap Pataphysical Essays René Daumal Pataphysical Essays collects Daumal's overtly pataphysical writings from 1929 to 1941, from his landmark exposition on pataphysics and laughter to his late essay, "The Pataphysics of Ghosts." Daumal's "Treatise on Patagrams" offers the reader... Many Subtle Channels In Praise of Potential Literature Daniel Levin Becker This book presents us with Oulipo—the mischievous group of writers whose obsession with words knows no limits. Levin Becker expertly describes the members of the group, each one uniquely working to devise linguistic puzzles to write within. Gothicka Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural Victoria Nelson The Gothic, Romanticism's gritty older sibling, has flourished in myriad permutations since the eighteenth century. In Gothicka, Victoria Nelson identifies the revolutionary turn it has taken in the twenty-first. Today's Gothic has fashioned its... Friends, Followers and the Future How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media Rory O'Connor Available now: Award-winning journalist Rory O'Connor explores how social media is transforming not only politics, media, and business, but every aspect of how we live. I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts Mark Dery "I must not think bad thoughts. I must not think bad thoughts." These lyrics by the band X have been my mantra on many occasions as I trudged my way here and there. Lucky for us that Mark Dery goes deep into the territories that many of us shun... The Wind From the East French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s Richard Wolin Michel Foucault, Jean-Paul Sartre, Julia Kristeva, Phillipe Sollers, and Jean-Luc Godard. During the 1960s, a who's who of French thinkers, writers, and artists, spurred by China's Cultural Revolution, were seized with a fascination for Maoism. The Grey Album On the Blackness of Blackness Kevin Young Taking its title from Danger Mouse's pioneering mashup of Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' The White Album, Kevin Young’s encyclopedic book combines essay, cultural criticism, and lyrical chorus to illustrate the African American tradition of... Wittgenstein's Anti-Philosophy Alain Badiou Alain Badiou takes on the standard bearer of the "linguistic turn" in modern philosophy, and anatomizes the “anti-philosophy” of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Addressing the crucial moment where Wittgenstein argues that much has to be passed over in silence... 1 2 3 4 >>>