Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker

Duncker, Patricia. Hallucinating Foucault. Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 1996. 175 pages, $21.00.

First novels are rarely more than hesitant indications of a writer’s potential, where a sense of awkwardness or discomfort frequently informs the text. Only in select instances does a writer produce a first work as mesmerizing as Patricia Duncker’s Hallucinating Foucault. This novel is remarkable for the cool and graceful rapport Duncker quickly establishes with her audience. The story begins as a tale of dissertation research and the relationship between two researchers and their subjects, and is transformed into an insightful examination of historical falsity, intellectual honesty, and the fine line between love and adoration. This novel is a wonderfully strange twist on the traditional Bildungsroman, making it an extraordinary meditation on the act of writing.