Foucault Live: Interviews, 1961-84

Rating:
Summary: useful, but tiresome
Review: if you're bothering to check out this book, let alone read my review of it, you've doubtless come in contact with foucault before, somewhere or other. this was true of me, when i first had the book thrust upon me, as part of a seminar course i was taking. i had read discipline and punish, and history of sexuality at the time, and little else by foucault. i had found both of those books to be dificult, but worth the effort. not so with foucault live, unfortunately. the book focuses primarily on foucault's preoccupation with himself, his brilliance, and his status as non-figurehead of any movement. much of the interviews here deal with the man, either in conjuction with his work, or seperate from it. i found the man a lot less interesting than his work. to be sure, there are articles here that shed light on his thoughts pertaining to the construction of sexuality, and the nature of modern society, and the treatment of our undesirables, as would be expected, and it was a great source for quotes to use when addressing passages from his other work; overall, however, it offered very little in the way of original thought. he's said everything here elsewhere, and, more often than not, better. as i said, it's a fine place to fine quotable lines, if you've got a paper to write, and an idea what you want to say, but it doesn't shine much light on his philosophy. but i could be wrong.