Spanning sixteen years, these letters chart a profound intellectual friendship at the heart of deconstruction, traversing philosophy, literature and the institutional life of theory from Yale to Paris. The exchange offers new insights into the private and professional worlds of Derrida and de Man as they navigate their writing, teaching and the intellectual crises of their era. Previously unseen material redefines our understanding of the Derrida-de Man relationship and illuminates the development of late-twentieth-century critical theory at its pivotal moment. Transcribed and translated with scholarly apparatus and a substantial contextual introduction, this volume is essential for understanding the evolution of modern thought and the ethics of reading and friendship.