Roland Barthes

The author of the book, "A Lover's Discourse," is Roland Barthes who generally writes the book in the first person, although he makes many references to other works. The book is an anthology of the thought processes a lover speaks to himself during the course of a love relationship. In gathering these thoughts, Barthes interjects some of his own, first-hand experiences in love and relationships. He uses the first person "I" in many cases—perhaps sometimes merely in an exemplary fashion but others times in an apparently personal way. In fact, in his foreword he states, "And there are some which comes from my own life."

The book was translated from its original French. The French version was a best seller in Europe. Other books published by Barthes include: On Racine; Writing Degree Zero; Elements of Semiology and Mythologies. In writing the book, Barthes focuses on...