{"product_id":"the-seventh-function-of-language-laurent-binet-9781250181688","title":"The Seventh Function of Language","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the prizewinning author of \u003ci\u003eHHhH\u003c\/i\u003e, \"the most insolent novel of the year\" (\u003ci\u003eL'Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e) comes a romp through the French intelligentsia of the twentieth century.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eParis, 1980. The literary critic Roland Barthes dies--struck by a laundry van--after lunch with the presidential candidate Fran輟is Mitterand. The world of letters mourns a tragic accident. But what if it wasn't an accident at all? What if Barthes was . . . murdered? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Seventh Function of Language\u003c\/i\u003e, Laurent Binet spins a madcap secret history of the French intelligentsia, starring such luminaries as Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Julia Kristeva--as well as the hapless police detective Jacques Bayard, whose new case will plunge him into the depths of literary theory (starting with the French version of \u003ci\u003eRoland Barthes for Dummies\u003c\/i\u003e). Soon Bayard finds himself in search of a lost manuscript by the linguist Roman Jakobson on the mysterious \"seventh function of language.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA brilliantly erudite comedy, \u003ci\u003eThe Seventh Function of Language\u003c\/i\u003e takes us from the caf駸 of Saint-Germain to the corridors of Cornell University, and into the duels and orgies of the Logos Club, a secret philosophical society that dates to the Roman Empire. Binet has written both a send-up and a wildly exuberant celebration of the French intellectual tradition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Laurent Binet\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1250181682\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250181688\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Picador USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/14\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.00d","brand":"Laurent Binet","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44050932957439,"sku":"9781250181688","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_3734d4f3-04da-4b0c-b88b-118669ce91c6.jpg?v=1685010098","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-seventh-function-of-language-laurent-binet-9781250181688","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}