In contemporary thought, the death of the author has assumed a significance comparable only to the death of God in the 19th century. This work offers an explanation of anti-authorialism and shows how, even taken in its own terms, the attempt to abolish the author is fundamentally misguided and philosophically untenable. This updated edition features a section challenging Derrida's reading of Plato as the founder of logocentrism; an epilogue which deals with the politics of authorship and issues of technology; and an updated bibliography.