Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS vii
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
4. Introduction: Montaigne Is Theory 1
5. PART I. Monster Theory
6. 1. Montaigne’s fantastic monsters and the construction of gender 29
7. 2. Representing the monster: Cognition, cripples, and other limp parts in “Des boyteux” (III, 11) 51
8. PART II. Death sentences
9. 3. Montaigne’s fraternity: La boétie on trial 73
10. 4. Montaigne on horseback, or the simulation of death 87
11. 5. The anxiety of death: Narrative and subjectivity in “De la diversion” (III, 4) 104
12. 6. Excavating montaigne: The essayist on trial 121
13. PART III. Philosophical impostures
14. 7. The socratic makeover: The ethics of the impossible in “de la phisionomie” (III, 12) 137
15. 8. Romancing the stone: “De l’experience” (III, 13) 154
16. Notes 193
17. Works cited 207
18. Index 215