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The Frenchmen: Or, My Life in Theory
From leading critic and essayist Emily Eakin, a stylish and sophisticated personal history of French theory, from its birth in France to its unlikely domination on America culture
When Emily Eakin arrived at Harvard in the late 1980s, she fell immediately under the spell of French theory, an eclectic body of critical and philosophical texts written by a handful of middle-aged Frenchmen, whose obscure ideas were taking American campuses by storm. In retrospect, the passion the Frenchmen aroused among a generation of Americans, including Eakin, seems as improbable as it was extraordinary – their worldview was predicated on a sweeping vision of language as all-powerful and human agency as an illusion, and their writing, brilliant as it was, was barely accessible – and in some cases downright impenetrable. And yet, American students and scholars flocked in droves to their books and lectures, liberated by this new way of understanding – perhaps even changing – the world. And in many respects, they were the Frenchmen challenged some of our most fundamental assumptions, from our beliefs about power, truth, and the individual, to reality itself.
THE FRENCHMEN is Eakin’s personal account of her youthful love affair with French theory, told alongside a greater examination of the origins of theory itself and American culture’s fixation. For a young woman raised in a Protestant ethic of hard work, self-improvement, and sexual sublimation, the attraction was obvious. Theory was cool. Theory was French. And theory was sexy. No mere intellectual exercise, but a way of being. Emily felt like she’d escaped her body and become pure mind, that she’d left her smalltown high school far behind and entered a rarified stratum.
In this tale rich not just in ideas but human drama, Eakin looks closely at these men – specifically Derrida, Louis Althusser, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Jacques Lacan, and Paul de Man – and deciphers what made them think the way they did. She examines the oftentimes absurd and tortured biographies of this decorated group of thinkers who were themselves so averse to biography. More personally, Eakin tries to pinpoint what it was about herself at that age that allowed her to come under theory’s sway and, for a time, nearly lose herself within it. What emerges from Eakin’s intimate, witty, and wise reckoning is that theory – while having faded from view – remains crucial for understanding our world today.
When Emily Eakin arrived at Harvard in the late 1980s, she fell immediately under the spell of French theory, an eclectic body of critical and philosophical texts written by a handful of middle-aged Frenchmen, whose obscure ideas were taking American campuses by storm. In retrospect, the passion the Frenchmen aroused among a generation of Americans, including Eakin, seems as improbable as it was extraordinary – their worldview was predicated on a sweeping vision of language as all-powerful and human agency as an illusion, and their writing, brilliant as it was, was barely accessible – and in some cases downright impenetrable. And yet, American students and scholars flocked in droves to their books and lectures, liberated by this new way of understanding – perhaps even changing – the world. And in many respects, they were the Frenchmen challenged some of our most fundamental assumptions, from our beliefs about power, truth, and the individual, to reality itself.
THE FRENCHMEN is Eakin’s personal account of her youthful love affair with French theory, told alongside a greater examination of the origins of theory itself and American culture’s fixation. For a young woman raised in a Protestant ethic of hard work, self-improvement, and sexual sublimation, the attraction was obvious. Theory was cool. Theory was French. And theory was sexy. No mere intellectual exercise, but a way of being. Emily felt like she’d escaped her body and become pure mind, that she’d left her smalltown high school far behind and entered a rarified stratum.
In this tale rich not just in ideas but human drama, Eakin looks closely at these men – specifically Derrida, Louis Althusser, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Félix Guattari, Jacques Lacan, and Paul de Man – and deciphers what made them think the way they did. She examines the oftentimes absurd and tortured biographies of this decorated group of thinkers who were themselves so averse to biography. More personally, Eakin tries to pinpoint what it was about herself at that age that allowed her to come under theory’s sway and, for a time, nearly lose herself within it. What emerges from Eakin’s intimate, witty, and wise reckoning is that theory – while having faded from view – remains crucial for understanding our world today.
496 pages, Hardcover
Published July 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 28, 2026
Appropriately enough, this dispenses with genre conventions in a form of postmodern playfulness as it shifts from memoir of Eakin's college days when she rather over-earnestly embraced literary theory, to biographical information on e.g. Lacan, Barthes, Foucault etc., to a light-touch exploration of some of their ideas. It also makes a good hand of explaining how theory moved on from existentialism and its essentially optimistic humanist view of the individual with agency, to something more abstract in the concern with a linguistic 'symbolic order', to use the Lacanian term.
Eakin fell out of love with theory and dropped out of her PhD programme for journalism, something she thought at the time more concrete and concerned with 'real life'. So it's rather heart-warming to see her come back to trace the impact of theory, however much it has been lambasted by conservative critics, in our world, both negatively and positively:
More positively, 'the more fluid our language, the more capacious and less confined our self-definitions, our bodies, our imaginations - and, eventually, the more tolerant our social order [which is] apparently intuitive to Generation Z'.
Anyone looking for a reader-friendly introduction to French literary and cultural theory for themselves or to add to student reading lists could do a lot worse than this.
Eakin fell out of love with theory and dropped out of her PhD programme for journalism, something she thought at the time more concrete and concerned with 'real life'. So it's rather heart-warming to see her come back to trace the impact of theory, however much it has been lambasted by conservative critics, in our world, both negatively and positively:
If we can control language, the thinking goes, we can better control people. Witness the efforts by the Trump administration to scrub hundreds of words - including "bias", "climate crisis", "equality", "females", "mental health", and "multicultural" from government documents and websites; to remove books from federally controlled libraries; to monitor the presentation of American history in Smithsonian museums and on public monuments; and to silence dissent on campuses by cutting off federal funds and arresting and deporting students.
The sanctioning and expurgation of language, as George Orwell understood, is key to furthering authoritarian agendas.
More positively, 'the more fluid our language, the more capacious and less confined our self-definitions, our bodies, our imaginations - and, eventually, the more tolerant our social order [which is] apparently intuitive to Generation Z'.
Anyone looking for a reader-friendly introduction to French literary and cultural theory for themselves or to add to student reading lists could do a lot worse than this.
July 29, 2026
I enjoyed the hell out of this. For a hard-to-categorize memoir/journey through the (often sordid) lives and minds of French theorists written by an Ivy League-educated journalist, this book somehow never feels pretentious. Eakin pokes fun at her theory-loving younger self and doesn’t hesitate to point out the plentiful contradictions and self-indulgences of the men she writes about. She does a fabulous job of making complex concepts feel accessible. I like how she dips into contemporary literature & criticism to show how tendrils of the Frenchmen’s ideas are still wrapped around so much of our culture.
August 3, 2026
An interesting read blending academic memoir and history of recent French philosophy and philosophers.
This was a great idea for a unique piece of nonfiction, and the author does an admirable job of lightly blending personal history and her own academic exploits with the basics of French philosophy.
I’ll note that this mostly discusses more recent French philosophy (let’s say roughly the last 150 years). I was a little disappointed by this, as earlier French philosophy is more to my interest (Descartes is barely mentioned), but that’s a taste issue rather than a critique of the text.
Interestingly, as is directly mentioned in the book, we typically separate philosophy from biography, such that a philosopher’s personal history is irrelevant to their work. Here the author mentions that tenet and then ignores it, which makes for a more original and, I think, more relatable and digestible view of the type of scholarship that is often hard to parse for non-academics.
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism are particularly thorny, and because that’s mostly what’s being discussed here, I love that the author found a way to make it a touch more comprehensible. Her decision to again ignore the separation of philosophy and biography regarding her own experiences was also helpful, grounding some pretty abstract content in a way that we rarely see in philosophical writing, often deliberately.
I checked out a bit at the points of the book that delve into politics (I agree with the author in this regard on most of her positions, I’m just burnt out and didn’t need that in this context), but otherwise this is infinitely more readable than, quite frankly, pretty much anything else I’ve come across that deals directly with the academics of Philosophy.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
This was a great idea for a unique piece of nonfiction, and the author does an admirable job of lightly blending personal history and her own academic exploits with the basics of French philosophy.
I’ll note that this mostly discusses more recent French philosophy (let’s say roughly the last 150 years). I was a little disappointed by this, as earlier French philosophy is more to my interest (Descartes is barely mentioned), but that’s a taste issue rather than a critique of the text.
Interestingly, as is directly mentioned in the book, we typically separate philosophy from biography, such that a philosopher’s personal history is irrelevant to their work. Here the author mentions that tenet and then ignores it, which makes for a more original and, I think, more relatable and digestible view of the type of scholarship that is often hard to parse for non-academics.
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism are particularly thorny, and because that’s mostly what’s being discussed here, I love that the author found a way to make it a touch more comprehensible. Her decision to again ignore the separation of philosophy and biography regarding her own experiences was also helpful, grounding some pretty abstract content in a way that we rarely see in philosophical writing, often deliberately.
I checked out a bit at the points of the book that delve into politics (I agree with the author in this regard on most of her positions, I’m just burnt out and didn’t need that in this context), but otherwise this is infinitely more readable than, quite frankly, pretty much anything else I’ve come across that deals directly with the academics of Philosophy.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Frenchmen by Emily Eakin is an interesting mix of memoir and intellectual history. The book explains the ideas of famous French thinkers like Derrida, Foucault, and Barthes in a way that is easier to understand than you might expect. Eakin also shares her own experiences studying these ideas, which makes the book feel more personal and engaging.
One of the best parts of the book is how it connects complex theories to the lives of the people who created them. While some sections can still be a little challenging, the writing is clear and enjoyable.
Overall, this is a thoughtful and accessible book for anyone curious about philosophy, literature, or the history of ideas. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.
One of the best parts of the book is how it connects complex theories to the lives of the people who created them. While some sections can still be a little challenging, the writing is clear and enjoyable.
Overall, this is a thoughtful and accessible book for anyone curious about philosophy, literature, or the history of ideas. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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July 14, 2026Review forthcoming in Cracks in Postmodernity
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews