Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man

On David Lehman'sSIGNS OF THE TIMES:Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man. Whatever happened to deconstruction? The term is now slang for fancy analysis, but as dogma it is dead in academe. This is the book that killed it. Fearlessly cutting through the calculated obfuscation so characteristic of deconstruction, Lehman gives the only clear explanation of it ever written. He intertwines brilliant literary criticism, an art he rescues from the self-importance and obscurantism of deconstruction, with the extraordinary biography of one of its most prominent exponents - a Yale professor who concealed his past as a Nazi sympathizer, abandoned his first wife and family, and wove an elaborate literary theory that conveniently touts the impossibility of truth. "Superb ... an exciting, lucid book informed by two qualities in increasingly short supply in academic circles: old-fashioned moral rigor and plain old common sense ... . Fascinating. . . . It stands as a lucid and fiercely intelligent study of the disturbing implications of deconstruction, and at the same time, as an impassioned argument for a more humane study of literature."" - Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Brilliant." - Raymond Tallis, The Times Literary Supplement "David Lehman's landmark Signs of the Times has served as a turning point in the literary culture wars." - New Oxford Review "Highly readable." - The American Scholar "Brilliant and highly readable . . . an important book." - The Boston Globe "A bracing masterpiece ... a book guaranteed to produce rapid heart beat in literary intellectuals. . . . Lehman superbly synthesizes the events of the de Man debacle. . . . Signs of the Times exemplifies invigorating cultural criticism. . . . It's an immense pleasure to read." - Newsday "A superbly written, eminently accessible account. . . Lehman's analysis of the double scandal of Paul de Man is a tour de force." - San Francisco Chronicle "Vividly written, thoroughly researched, even-tempered and readable. . . . an especially compelling introduction to deconstruction and its consequences." - The Wall Street Journal "Lehman's prose sparkles and he writes with disarming good humor underlying seriousness and as much clarity as the subject will stand." - Los Angeles Times Book Review