Gilles Deleuze

Why think? Not, according to Gilles Deleuze, in order to be clever, but because thinking transforms life. Why read literature? Not for pure entertainment, Deleuze tells us, but because literature can recreate the boundaries of life. With his emphasis on creation, the future and the enhancement of life, along with his crusade against "common sense", Deleuze offers some of the most liberating, exhilarating ideas in 20th-century thought. This book offers a way in to Deleuzean thought through such topics as: "becoming"; time and the flow of life; the ethics of thinking; "major" and "minor" literature; difference and repetition; and desire, the image and ideology. The text should be a valuable guide for students wishing to think differently about life and literature and create their own new readings of literary texts.

"This is an excellent introduction to the writing and thinking of Gilles Deleuze. Claire Colebrook presents what are often complex ideas in an eminently readable manner. Not only are key Deleuzian tendencies explained and exemplified with rigour and clarity, but also Deleuze is set into an appropriately wide context which embraces philosophy, literature, film, politics, feminism and other related areas. Moreover, a skilful selection of signposts and pointers for further study is supplied."- Mary Bryden, University of Reading "This book is that rare thing, an introduction to the work of a complex thinker that actually does what it is supposed to do: it shows you how to use Deleuze's thought to do new things. Students will find this to be an excellent starting point."-Ian Buchanan, University of Tasmania "A remarkably lucid and insightful overview of the thought of Gilles Deleuze, especially successful in drawing out the implications of Deleuze's philosophy for literary analysis. Readers new to Deleuze will find in this volume a friendly and reliable guide."-Ronald Bogue, University of Georgia

Claire Colebrook teaches English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of New Literary Histories (1997) and Ethics and Representation (1999). She has also published on Derrida, Heidegger, Irigaray, Blake and Foucault.