"A spry intellectual history neatly blends with a memoir of studying modern literary theory. Eakin writes with admirable clarity of ideas, such as the 'always already,' the aporia, and the interpellation, and she mixes her understanding of such theories with nicely juicy bits of gossip . A fine account of the onetime primacy of French critical theory and its place in real life." -- Kirkus (starred review) "Masterful . an engrossing portrait . Eakin makes her obsession with these thinkers contagious." -- Publishers Weekly ( starred review) "A superbly engrossing adventure of ideas, tracing the lives and rivalries of thinkers who were anti-humanist in their theories, but all-too-human in their personalities. I loved Emily Eakin's wry account of her own youthful intoxication with these writers, and of her disentanglement from them -- even while she reassesses what they might still have to offer in these strange times.

This will surely be my philosophy book of the year." -- Sarah Bakewell, New York Times bestselling author of Humanly Possible "Rich, absorbing, seductive, The Frenchmen is an intellectual history that doesn't leave out the body. Eakin's own coming-of-age animates her masterful portrait of ideas that changed the world and the singularly eccentric figures whose lives were almost as remarkable as their thoughts. I loved this book." -- Ayad Akhtar, playwright and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Homeland Elegies "Who knew theory could be so much fun? Deliciously gossipy yet super-smart, The Frenchmen illuminates the eccentric lives behind the philosophies that blew a whole generation's mind on both sides of the Atlantic. Emily Eakin's sparkling prose lets us relive the thrill of their intellectual chase--and shows why it still matters. Refusing to settle for easy judgments, this immensely enjoyable book reveals the making of a new world of thought, where philosophy overflows into politics, sex, and art." -- Clare Carlisle, author of Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard "Eakin delivers exactly what we want: a panoramic and intellectually wised-up chronicle of the High Theory with which France seduced America, plus all the High Drama behind it: rivalries, takedowns, political ructions, betrayals, drugs, madness, uxoricide, fraud (not all of it intellectual), and jouissance (not all of it sexual).

It's an opera of ideas, and an absurdly entertaining one." -- Jim Holt, bestselling author of Why Does the World Exist?.