*The Passion of Michel Foucault* by James E. Miller Publisher: Shanghai People's Publishing House

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☆A blend of philosophical reflection and "extreme experiences," an interweaving of life and thought, understanding Foucault within the context of European thought, a key text in 20th-century Western thought.

☆This book is not only a biography of a master thinker but also a grand Nietzschean exploration of "how one becomes who one is."

☆Professor Gao Yi of Peking University meticulously revised the translation and wrote a preface recommending it.

Foucault is one of the most brilliant, engaging, and influential thinkers of our time. His ideas were not only expressed in his writings but also embodied in the "extreme experiences" he pursued throughout his life. What impresses and attracts us equally is not just Foucault's elegant, fluid prose and impactful intellectual views, but also his unique, incredibly rich, captivating, and controversial life experiences. Author James Miller, with his profound philosophical background and excellent writing skills, conducted a meticulous study of Foucault's works, compiled and referenced a vast amount of material, and interviewed various relevant individuals. On this basis, he wrote this outstanding work, chronicling Foucault's "philosophical life."

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A reclusive and eccentric youth, lifelong preparation for suicide, a violent preference for life, mysterious revelations from valleys and car accidents...

Foucault's life, like his thought, was rich, fascinating, and controversial: his unique feelings for boys in his class during childhood; repeated suicide attempts during college; his initial opposition and critique of the great philosopher Sartre, who dominated academia, upon entering the academic world; his silence when Derrida publicly criticized Madness and Civilization; his ambivalent approach to political movements, sometimes close, sometimes distant; his contradictory attitude towards the Iranian Revolution; his academic alliance with Deleuze and its subsequent dissolution... In Miller's book, these experiences of Foucault are interwoven with his ideas—his inheritance of the French tradition of the history of science and epistemology, his opposition to modern humanism, his focus on and investigation of irrationality, abnormality, and demarcation, his revelation of power relations in modern society, his resistance to structuralism, and his fascination with the theme of death—presenting Foucault's life and death, love and hate, action and thought, experience and passion. —"The secret of getting the greatest gain and the greatest pleasure from existence is to live dangerously."

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Mr. Miller has drawn for us a vibrant, ardent, fearless, and brilliant mind — granted, perhaps with a touch of self-deconstruction, and all too human, but never to be accused of being stale, mediocre, anonymous, or naive. — The New York Times Book Review

Miller’s controversial book is the product of rigorous and complex research... He discusses madness, death, and homosexuality, detailing sadomasochistic culture with particularly vivid, almost visceral descriptions. — The New Republic

This book is a daring and imaginative interpretation of Foucault's life, broadening and even subverting the moral and aesthetic traditions bequeathed by three centuries of modern humanity. — The Boston Globe

James Miller's way of talking about sex and philosophy, Nietzsche and AIDS, may shock some readers... but it is through these seemingly disparate elements that he constructs an erotic life. — Edmund White

This astonishing work is profoundly inspiring for its intellectual brilliance; its widespread impact is perfectly commensurate with its subject, making it a key text for understanding late 20th-century Western culture. — Said