René Girard Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Stanford University Press, 1987. Translation by Stephen Bann (Books II & III) and Michael Metteer (Book I) of "Des choses cachées depuis la fondation du monde" (Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 1978). 0804722153 469 pages. Softcover volume, measuring approximately 6.25" x 9.25", is like new. An astonishing work of cultural criticism, this book is widely recognized as a brilliant and devastating challenge to conventional views of literature, anthropology, religion, and psychoanalysis. In its scope and itnerest it can be compared with Freud's "Totem and Taboo," the subtext Girard refutes with polemic daring, vast erudition, and a persuasiveness that leaves the reader compelled to respond, one way or another.

This is the single fullest summation of Girard's ideas to date, the book by which they will stand or fall. In a dialogue with two psychiatrists (Jean-Michel Oughourlian and Guy Lefort), Girard probes an encyclopedic array of topics, ranging across the entire spectrum of anthropology, psychoanalysis, and cultural production.