{"product_id":"the-seventh-function-of-language-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 François 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 cafés 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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLaurent Binet\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Paris, France, in 1972. His first novel, \u003ci\u003eHHhH\u003c\/i\u003e, was named one of the fifty best books of 2015 by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and received the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman. He is a professor at the University of Paris III, where he lectures on French literature. His other novels include\u003ci\u003e The Seventh Function of Language \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Civilizations.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eSam Taylor\u003c\/b\u003e has written for \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, and has translated such works as the award-winning \u003ci\u003eHHhH\u003c\/i\u003e by Laurent Binet and the internationally bestselling \u003ci\u003eThe Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair\u003c\/i\u003eby Joël Dicker.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50649946849554,"sku":"9781250181688","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1f56ac29-444e-4912-94d6-a7815f62ac16.jpg?v=1733278226","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-seventh-function-of-language-9781250181688","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}