Pierre Macherey (1938-present). A founding theorist of post-structuralism, he was a peer of Jacques Derrida's and his writings have influenced such contemporary literary thinkers as Terry Eagleton and Catherine Belsey.

'What is at stake in this book is nothing less than a dramatically new way of approaching literature, one which in its unostentatious, low key way scandalously smashes a whole range of liberal humanist icons.' - Terry Eagleton

• Preface, Translator’s Preface, Acknowledgement, Some Elementary Concepts, Some Critics, Some Works, Forty Years On, Index