"Remarkable new work ... The text is significant and embodies several stand out features, which make it indispensable to Kristeva scholars and researchers ... Jardine's biography introduces the life and writings of Kristeva in substantive ways, and all researchers and graduate students dealing with the thought of Kristeva will greatly benefit from it." - Symposium
"An authoritative voice narrates Kristeva's life: Alice Jardine knows her subject extremely
well, perhaps better than anyone writing in English. She was Kristeva's research assistant as a
graduate student at Columbia in 1976 when Kristeva first went to teach there; she has conducted many interviews over a period of years and even visited Bulgaria with her. She calls her subject 'an important personal friend.' And I call this an important book." -
L'Esprit Créateur
"Alice Jardine's intellectual biography of Julia Kristeva is breathtaking. Exploring the relationship between Kristeva's life and her writings, Jardine reflects not only on the powerful influences on Kristeva's thinking and the importance of Kristeva's work for contemporary culture, but also on what it means to write a biography. Beautifully written and full of insight, Jardine's biography is a must read for anyone interested in French Theory and Kristeva's definitive role in its development." –
Kelly Oliver, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University, USA "People, cities, vibrant seminar rooms, intellectual and amorous encounters: following the thread of Kristeva's books, Alice Jardine takes us on a journey across shifting social and political landscapes in her passionate biographical account of one of the most important thinkers of our epoch." –
Miglena Nikolchina, Professor of Literary Theory, University of Sofia, Bulgaria "With a light and magical touch, Alice Jardine narrates the story of Julia Kristeva's journey from the Black Sea to the Atlantic to the expanse of human singularity. In her intimate account, Jardine shows how Kristeva became one of the most extraordinary intellectuals of our era. Scholars will be delighted with new biographical nuggets, such as why it was that Lacan didn't make it to that trip to China. But more, for every reader, here is is a story that will inspire us all to think more deeply, to revolt against preconceptions, and–instead of being shaped by the Big Other–to become our own force in creating the meaning of our lives." –
Noëlle McAfee, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Psychoanalytic Studies Program, Emory University, USA
