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Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Beginning!
Review: Before I read this book, all I ever hear of Derrida is that he is so hard to read. Upon reading this, I realized where this could be true. This beginners book is very well written and made Derrida's work simple to understand. Although one may need a basic knowledge in linguistics and Sassure, one does not need it all together to comprehend some of Derrida's work. Author Jim Powell gives a concise look into the dense writings of the linguist which I not only found easy, but exciting - enough to make me want to go out and read some of the material that is written about. Along with an explanation of Derrida's work is also a brief biography which gives on an idea where he is coming from. Highly reccomended! One of the best beginners book to date.
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Summary: a good introduction, i guess!
Review: Before I read this book, I knew almost nothing about Jacques Derrida, though I had browsed through some of his works. I think this is a good book for the general reader. It goes more into depth on Derrida than Powell's other book Postmodernism for Beginners.
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Summary: You have to start somewhere . . . .
Review: Derrida has always scoffed at convention and labeling, so to say that this is a primer on his philosophy is somewhat of an oxymoron. Powell, however, somehow pulls it off, and one can see why. Other Derrida analysts have attempted to place his theories in terms of the concrete, or, to borrow one of Derrida's phrases, to "centralize" them. Powell manages to make the reader familiar with such fear-inspiring terms as "binary opposition" and "arche-writing" without actually providing a definition for either. Instead he cites examples of what a binary opposition would be, and after all, if the old proverb is true, showing something to someone is far better than speaking to them about it. After all, speaking about it would only get you lost in a long chain of signifiers that never quite reach a signified, and we certainly can't have that. ;)Do not expect, however, to be able to jump into a Derrida text immediately after reading this. It is my experience that Derrida can only be understood vis-a-vis the philosophers, linguists, and anthropologists who preceeded him, i.e., Saussure, Hegel, Heidegger, Nietzsche, etc. . . A basic understanding of structuralism is also necessary before understanding Dr. Derrida, who is, after all, a major figure in post-structuralism. See also: Foucault, Deleuze, Baudrillard, Virilio (The Information Bomb is excellent), De Man, Lacan, and for an opposing view on deconstruction, Stanley Fish or Norman Holland.
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Summary: If your new to Derrida, here is your introduction.
Review: Derrida is my favorite philosopher. I don't think that his 'Deconstruction' is holistic necessarily but the gist of it explains the inherent problems of doing philosophy better then anything else I've read. Unlike the greats of Science who simplify complex ideas (i.e..Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman), the guru's of philosophy take fairly straight-forward ideas and shroud them with such mysterious sounding proprietary language that their work becomes nearly impossible to decipher. Derrida is no exception. This is a shame because his underlying message is brilliant...and really not not all that abstract. So until philosophers realize that less words does not directly translate to less intelligence, we should be very glad to have commentators like Jim Powell around. "Derrida For Beginners" concentrates on developing the key concept of "differance" and defining the necessary Derridian terminology used to communicate its meaning. The book clearly defines, "binary opposites", "texts", "logocentricism" etc.. and has plenty of diagram's to help you get the idea. While I can't say the artwork did much for me, the cartoon setting does force the message to be carried accross succinctly...no babling. The first book I read after failing miserably to tackle "Of Grammatology" was "Derrida" by Christopher Norris. While his was an excellent introduction..I will say that after I read "Derrida for Beginners" I went back and read most of Norris' book again and got a lot more out of it. Try this: read "Derrida for Beginners" as many times as needed until you have all the words in bold print at your fingertips..then, read Norris' book "Derrida". With this few hours of investment, do some online searches and read some of the commentaries and criticism of Derrida. You will be surprised at how badly he is misunderstood by so many who have studied him a lot more then you, and should feel good about your knowledge in comparisom. Of course you then need to get humble again so start reading "Of Grammatology". :)
Rating:
Summary: If your new to Derrida, here is your introduction.
Review: Derrida is my favorite philosopher. I don't think that his 'Deconstruction' is holistic necessarily but the gist of it explains the inherent problems of doing philosophy better then anything else I've read. Unlike the greats of Science who simplify complex ideas (i.e..Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman), the guru's of philosophy take fairly straight-forward ideas and shroud them with such mysterious sounding proprietary language that their work becomes nearly impossible to decipher. Derrida is no exception. This is a shame because his underlying message is brilliant...and really not not all that abstract. So until philosophers realize that less words does not directly translate to less intelligence, we should be very glad to have commentators like Jim Powell around. "Derrida For Beginners" concentrates on developing the key concept of "differance" and defining the necessary Derridian terminology used to communicate its meaning. The book clearly defines, "binary opposites", "texts", "logocentricism" etc.. and has plenty of diagram's to help you get the idea. While I can't say the artwork did much for me, the cartoon setting does force the message to be carried accross succinctly...no babling. The first book I read after failing miserably to tackle "Of Grammatology" was "Derrida" by Christopher Norris. While his was an excellent introduction..I will say that after I read "Derrida for Beginners" I went back and read most of Norris' book again and got a lot more out of it. Try this: read "Derrida for Beginners" as many times as needed until you have all the words in bold print at your fingertips..then, read Norris' book "Derrida". With this few hours of investment, do some online searches and read some of the commentaries and criticism of Derrida. You will be surprised at how badly he is misunderstood by so many who have studied him a lot more then you, and should feel good about your knowledge in comparisom. Of course you then need to get humble again so start reading "Of Grammatology". :)
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Summary: Only Book on Deconstruction That Has Made Sense to Me
Review: I think deconstruction is important but have difficulty understanding it. This book is the only lucid explanation I've seen of it's basic principles.
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Summary: The best introduction to Derrida that I've seen.
Review: I thought that the book was excellent. I would think that anyone who read it would be able to tackle texts like Dissemination etc. There are so many bad introductions to Derrida around that this book came as a refreshing surprise. I felt that it gave a very good coverage of Derrida's work.
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Summary: Have I got it yet?
Review: I thought that the book was excellent. I would think that anyone who read it would be able to tackle texts like Dissemination etc. There are so many bad introductions to Derridaa light-fingered "take" on Derrida that doesn't attempt to amazes me how hard any introduction would be Before I read this book, all I ever hear of Derrida is that he is so hard to read. Upon reading this, I realized where this could be true. This beginners book is very well a good book for the general reader. Yet, one must know Derrida not only because he is important in his own 'write'--but because so much of literary theory draws from buzz-words and concepts affiliated with his work. As a busy graduate student, I simply did not have the time to read all of Drrrida. I can honestly say, that without having read Derrida for Beginners, I would not have been able to understand what Derrida I have had time to read--nearly as well. It is humorous--in an iconoclastic sort of way. Or--should I agrue that Derrida needs no supplement ... I hope that "disseminates" how I've appropriated Derrida, and, with apologies, the other folk's reviews. Buy it- it's a great book.
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Summary: very helpful
Review: If you are beginning to read derrida, this book will be very helpful. Now if they only made one for Judith Butler! (Skip the Foucault, his theories are not that complex.)
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Summary: very helpful
Review: This book is concerned with making accessible the often inaccessible Derrida. Derrida's philosophy will help you develop a healthy sensibility and cynicism for 'knowledge' and 'representation.'
Do not be fooled by the 'for beginners' title; it is not simply an introduction, it is a hands-on intepretation of several his 'major' works. The book has any value for anyone interested in learning about the world in which we live.
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