One of the most knowledgeable and provocative explicators of Paul de Man's writings, Rodolphe Gasch, a philosopher by training, demonstrates for the first time the systematic coherence of the critic's work, insisting that de Man continues to merit close attention despite his notoriously difficult and obscure style. Gasch shows that de Man's reading centers on a dimension of the texts that is irreducible to any possible meaning, a dimension characterized by the absolutely singular.
Given that de Man and Derrida are both termed deconstructionists, Gasch differentiates between the two by emphasizing Derrida's primary interest in writing, and postulates that the best way to come to terms with de Man's works is to read them athwart the writings of Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Heidegger, and Derrida. He shows his respect for the immanent logic of de Man's thought--which he lays out in great detail--while revealing his uneasiness at the oddness of that thought and its consequences.