From this renowned philosopher comes a debut work of fiction, at once a brilliant prÊcis of the history of philosophy, a semiautobiographical meditation on the absurd relationship between knowledge and memory, and a very funny story
A French philosopher dies during a savage summer heat wave. Boxes carrying his unpublished papers mysteriously appear in Simon Critchleyâs office. Rooting through them, Critchley discovers a brilliant text on the ancient art of memory and a cache of astrological charts predicting the deaths of various philosophers. Among them is a chart for Critchley himself, laying out in great detail the course of his life and eventual demise. While waiting for his friendâs prediction to come through, Critchley receives the missing, final box, which contains a maquette of Giulio Camilloâs sixteenth-century Venetian memory theater, a space supposed to contain the sum of all knowledge. With nothing left to hope for, Critchley devotes himself to one final project before his deathâthe building of a structure to house his collective memories and document the remnants of his entire life.