"Fascinating . Allen shows throughout that a profound and rigorous engagement with Blanchot's enigmatic work can be as lucid as it is respectful of this work's density and difficulty." -- The French Review "In earlier books on Hölderlin and Heidegger, Adorno and Blanchot, and, more recently, the Marquis de Sade, William Allen has shown himself to be an exceptionally tough-minded, scrupulous, and resourceful commentator, given to elucidating some unusually challenging material with probing independence of view. This absorbing and thought-provoking new book is no different. Building on the arguments set out in Allen's previous volumes, it deploys a lucid and incisive intelligence in attending to the distinctive qualities of Blanchot's fictional and philosophical writings. It is a work all readers of modern philosophy and literature will ponder at length." -- Leslie Hill, Emeritus Professor of French Studies, University of Warwick, UK.