Educated in the humanities and trained in psychiatry, Jean Starobinski is a central figure in the Geneva School of criticism. His classic work, "Montaigne in Motion", is a subtly conceived and elegantly written study of the "Essais of Montaigne", whose deceptively plainspoken meditations have entranced readers and stimulated philosophers since their first publication in 1580. Here Starobinski offers a decidedly postmodern reading of Montaigne. In chapters dealing with the themes of public and private life, friendship, death, the body, and love, Starobinski reveals much that will remind us that Montaigne's thought is as apropos to our time as it was to his own.

Translated by: Arthur Goldhammer