Hallucinating Foucault is the Dillions Prize winning first novel by Patricia Dunker. It's a strange story of obsession, madness, and insight, mostly set in France in the late 20th century. The protagonist is an English doctoral student doing research on a fictional homosexual, iconoclastic French contemporary novelist named Paul Michael. The writer is purported to have had an intense intellectual relationship with Michael Foucault, which plays into the plot. The main plot involves the unnamed grad student going on a "rescue mission" to find and free Paul Michael, who had been locked up in an asylum for a decade because of his bizzare and violent schizophrenic behaviour. He is able to spend some time with him and learns much about the writer, himself, life, etc. It's well written, intellectually challenging and unpredictable. Filled with interesting, even bizarre characters, the book is a very strong piece of writing, particularly for a first novel.
For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/02/16/reviews/970216.16lincolt.html
For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/02/16/reviews/970216.16lincolt.html
