Derrida's Breakfast

Four essays, three on the philosopher Jacques Derrida, whose writings have so influenced our time (one on his breakfast, one on his cat, one on his relationship with a snake, and one (on the killing of doves) on the great early twentieth century poet Rilke – each of them examining key failures and challenges in the relationship of poetry, philosophy and ‘the animal’, and each entertaining, absorbing, and thought-provoking well beyond its given subject.

A book that crosses with apparent ease the boundaries of philosophy, literary criticism (there are passages on Coleridge, on D.H. Lawrence, on Henry Lawson) and human-animal relations, by a writer recently described as ‘one of the most skilful, unusual and versatile of Australian writers’ (Sydney Morning Herald, January 2016).

About the Author

DAVID BROOKS spent his earliest years in Greece and Yugoslavia. His first collection of poetry, The Cold Front, was short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Prize and won the Anne Elder Award. His first collection of short fiction, The Book of Sei, was heralded as the most impressive debut in Australian short fiction since The Fat Man in History. His acclaimed first novel, The House of Balthus, was short-listed for the National Book Award. His second, The Fern Tattoo, was short-listed for the 2008 Miles Franklin. Returning to poetry after an interval of twenty-two years, he has published three further collections including Walking to Point Clear (2005; short-listed for the Adelaide Festival Prize).

A photographer, vegan and animal rights activist, he spends a small part of each year in a village in Istria (he is married to the Slovenian photographer and translator Teja Pribac). For the rest of his time he teaches Australian Literature and directs the graduate writing program at the University of Sydney.

He is also a co-editor with Elizabeth McMahon for Southerly, Australia’s oldest literary magazine.