The book starts with a brief introduction of the work, and then shifts into discussing Derrida’s early life and his theories. Early the author gives a brief chronical of Derrida’s works starting with his translation of Husserl’s Origin of Geometrythen going on to Of Grammatology. Crockett calls Derrida’s focus on Husserl as, “… to show the limits of phenomenology by noting its dependence on speech as a kind of living present, on which phenomenology bases its understanding of the Idea” (16). Of Grammatology brings this idea of literature and speech derived from the concept of “arche-writing”. Derrida then writes about Heidegger’s “ontotheology” and equates the transcendental signified or ontotheology with God. All of Derrida’s early theories strike at traditional religious ideas. One key interaction is Derrida’s criticism of Levinas’s challenge of philosophy which Crockett quotes Derrida as, “negative theology never undertook a Discourse with God in the face to face, and breath to breath, of two free speeches,” in the way Levinas does” (19). Even while Derrida challenges Levinas he cannot help but to praise his approach. Two later events in Derrida’s life Crockett states as effecting Derrida’s writings are Heidegger’s ties to Nazism and Derrida’s close friend Paul de Man’s antisemitic writings. Derrida’s essay on justice verses law shows as Crockett put it, “deconstruction as a kind of revolutionary force,” and goes against a force or authority. 

In the chapter titled ‘Surviving Christianity’ Crockett discusses the source of religion as Derrida viewed it as, “… it has two sources, “the convergence of two experiences,” one of which is the fiduciary experience of belief, faith or credit, and the other is “the experience of the unscathed, of sacredness or of holiness” (29). Derrida saw Christianity as the predominant idea of religion in the West and even growing as the globalization idea of religion then Derrida would justifiably deconstruct Christianity. Jean- Luc Nancy is quoted by Crockett on how Deconstruction is birthed from Christianity when he states, “[Deconstruction] is Christianity because Christianity is, originally, deconstructive because it relates immediately to its own origin as to a slack [jeu], an interval, some play, an opening in origin” (30). Christianity is the religion that deconstructs and absorbs other religious ideals and traditions. Derrida warned against Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity with as Crockett quotes, “‘The Deconstruction of Christianity’ will no doubt be the test of a dechristianization of the world— no doubt as necessary and fatal as it is impossible. . . . Dechristianization will be a Christian victory.” Deconstructing or defeating Christianity, by the concept of incarnation, is not possible. By this concept anything that opposes Christianity, whether it is philosophy or religion, reforges Christianity within its own ashes to a new incarnation. Crockett then discusses Hägglund’s reading of Derrida in Radical Atheism with, “… points out that Derrida’s “unconditional affirmation of life” involves saying “yes” to the survival of our finite temporal existence rather than hoping or yearning for some sort of religious infinity” (34). This reading shows Derrida’s focus on the now and life in his early writing rather than a possibility of an afterlife.

In chapter three, Crockett goes on to use Roberto Esposito’s Two: The Machine of Political Theology and the Place of Thought to convey this idea of Two within a One (46). These Two combating to annihilate the other and perpetuating the One forward. By absorbing incompletely the other and deconstructing the One into the Two Crockett has merged the two theories. Included in this political chapter is a section over the, “revolt against God,” (49) which the Crockett explains as a going away from the sovereignty of God over political decision making as per Schmitt’s Political Theology. This sovereignty is then proposed to be both dead and alive constantly chasing after a foe and vanquishing it only to have that foe revive and complete the cycle of this Christian metaphysics. Crockett interprets Derrida’s take on the poet Paul Celan and the phrase, “The world is gone, I must carry you” (56). The chapter ends with a focus on Heidegger’s choices of German words and compares which Derrida decided to focus on. The specific words of Walten, tragen, and Austrag all related to ruling and sovereignty.

The next chapter titled ‘Interrupting Heidegger with a Ram’ Crockett continues to interpret Derrida on Heidegger through the poems of the Paul Celan, a friend and colleague of Derrida, the introduction of the philosopher Georg Gadamer and his connections to Celan, the deaths of Celan, Gadamer, and Derrida, and how their deaths effected Derrida’s writing which shows within ‘Rams: Uninterrupted Dialogue—Between Two Infinities, the Poem’ and is discussed throughout this chapter. Derrida writing after the loss of Celan wrote, “with regard to Celan, the image that comes to mind is a meteor, an interrupted blaze of light, a sort of caesura, a very brief moment leaving behind a trail of sparks that I try to recover through his texts.” One of the things within this chapter is the theme of sacrifice which is explored late.

Chapter five’s title, ‘Derrida, Lacan, and Object-Oriented Ontology’, sums up the chapter rather neatly. In this chapter Crockett discusses Derrida’s correlation between object-oriented ontology focusing on humanity as a world-building object constructing our own worlds within and around ourselves. As well Crockett discusses Lacan’s idea of the big Other and the little other. To Lacan there is no such thing as just an object, “it is always a strange object” (88). These ideas playing perfectly with the otherness of Derrida’s différance.

In ‘Radical Theology and the Event Caputo’s Derridean Gospel’ Crockett returns to Caputo and the theology of Derrida. He quotes Charles E. Winquist, “theology is writing,” (94) which as Crockett goes on to explains that through Derrida theology can be deconstructed. The chapter then discusses hermeneutics. Which Caputo, as Crockett put it, “supplements Derrida’s philosophy with a more existential affirmation of life” (97). Caputo spots this change in Derrida’s writings and appeals that it is a “passion” (97) to Derrida and equates them to his tears and prayer in his book ‘The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida’.

In chapter seven, there is a shift toward talking about the concept of the plasticity of deconstruction proposed by Catherine Malabou. Crockett compares Caputo and Malabou’s interpretations of Derrida and his later works. Malabou is trying to show her concepts from neurology of rapid healing known as plasticity shall be the next motor scheme of Derrida and deconstruction. Malabou’s argument comes that Derrida’s “arch-writing” and once writing comes to an end we will have plasticity (111). Crockett quotes Malabou’s book Plasticity at the Dusk of Writing that, “plasticity is the systemic law of the deconstructed real, a mode of organization of the real that comes after metaphysics and that is appearing today in all the different domains of human activity” (111). Malabou says that if deconstruction does not become plastic then it will die as compared to Caputo’s idea that deconstruction has already changed into a universal force of justice.

The last chapter takes Derrida to a whole different level. Crockett explains how Barad views and uses Derrida’s idea of Hauntological Materialism. In it he says, “Words, concepts, phenomena are entangled in complex ways, and deconstruction attends to the manner in which such phenomena are spookily entangled” (130). Barad barrows Derrida’s term hauntological materialism. Crockett mentions a quote by Richard Feynman about the cannibalistic nature of electrons to devour their own protons calling back to Esposito’s concept of Two in One mention in chapter three. The Atom being the One and the neutron and proton being the Two devouring and progressing this machine.

To wrap the book up, Crockett gives an introspective afterword over father figures and how Derrida viewed gender in philosophy. In it he discusses the idea of philosophy being viewed as male by Derrida, but that Derrida wishes for one day a “motherly” view of philosophy will occur. In this section Crockett goes over Derrida’s idea of “phallogocentrism” and how Lacan, “calls the phallus structures our understanding of language and reality” (139). To finish Crockett talks about his studying under Winquist and how Winquist and Caputo both played fatherly figures for Crockett.

Crockett has developed this book through expert research and scholarship. His points and arguments are well constructed. He lays out all the facts and chronicles a well-constructed timeline of this shift within Derrida. Crockett has managed a very fascinating feat with this book. This book’s analysis of Derrida manages to tackle this titanic task. 

Maxwell Stevenson is a Cherokee author who studied Psychology and Writing at NSU. Inspired by the works of Franz Kafka and Charles Bukowski, Maxwell has applied similar writing into his works. Maxwell is seeking to further his writing and explore through the art of Psychology and the human experience.