'Showily, and wittily, Eagleton yearns for a species of salvation or transcendence from cultural theories' Prospect '...An original thinker whose passion and zest for life, and writing, remain, after years in the famously desiccating groves of academe, undiminished' the Independent Magazine 'After Theory's huge achievement is to show just how formidable a presence the Marxist cultural critic can be, even here in the thronged and dismaying universe of Bush, Blair, Derrida and the celebrated M Jean Baudrilland' Independent on Sunday

Terry Eagleton is Professor of Cultural Theory at Manchester University. His books include Literary Theory, a trilogy on Irish culture, a novel, several plays, the screenplay for Derek Jarman's film Wittgenstein, and an autobiography, The Gatekeeper (Penguin 2001).