"The most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged from europe in some decades." - Terry Eagleton 'One of the most innovative and exciting contemporary thinkers of the left.' TLS The Universal Exception is the second volume of the collected key writings of Slavoj Zizek - one of the most provocative and inspiring writers on culture at work today. Collecting together a broad selection of Zizek's major writings on politics, The Universal Exception showcases Zizek's formidable range of interests and his style. The book includes his writings on such right-wing icons as Ayn Rand and Leni Riefenstahl; his take on the logic of capitalism and the condition of contemporary radical politics; and his views on major current global issues and events, including the Iraq war. Together with Interrogating the Real, the first volume of Zizek's selected writings, this collection offers a superb introduction to the work of this prolific, controversial and vastly entertaining cultural commentator.
Author
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovene sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia). He received a Doctor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Ljubljana and studied psychoanalysis at the University of Paris VIII with Jacques-Alain Miller and François Regnault. In 1990 he was a candidate with the party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia for Presidency of the Republic of Slovenia (an auxiliary institution, abolished in 1992). Since 2005, Žižek has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Žižek is well known for his use of the works of 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in a new reading of popular culture. He writes on many topics including the Iraq War, fundamentalism, capitalism, tolerance, political correctness, globalization, subjectivity, human rights, Lenin, myth, cyberspace, postmodernism, multiculturalism, post-marxism, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País he jokingly described himself as an "orthodox Lacanian Stalinist". In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! he described himself as a "Marxist" and a "Communist."
