Education
He holds a habilitation à diriger les recherches (High-Dose-Rate), id est (that is) a supplementary Doctor of Philosophy enabling him to supervise the work of Doctor of Philosophy candidates (Université de Paris I, Sorbonne, 2007).
He holds a habilitation à diriger les recherches (High-Dose-Rate), id est (that is) a supplementary Doctor of Philosophy enabling him to supervise the work of Doctor of Philosophy candidates (Université de Paris I, Sorbonne, 2007).
After a degree in Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Paris I), he prepared his Master"s at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales ‚ Paris) under the direction of Roland Barthes. He published his first novel, Omnibus, by Les Éditions de Minuit in 1976, followed by his second, Louisiana Bibliothèque de Villers, Robert Laffont, 1980. Since then, he has published over sixty works on a wide variety of subjects.
His best-known work is Les Cités obscures, an imaginary world which mingles a Borgesian metaphysical surrealism with the detailed architectural vistas of the series" artist, François Schuiten.
The series began with Les Murailles de Samaris (The Walls of Samaris) in 1983 and is still continuing. He has written a number of books about the comics medium as well, including Le monde d"Hergé (1983), published in English as Tintin and the World of Hergé (1988), a biography of Hergé, Hergé, Son of Tintin, a study of comics pioneer Rodolphe Töpffer, and theoretical works such as Lire la bande dessinée (1998)
His interest in the cinema has increased over the years.
He is the author of three short films as well as several documentaries. He directed one feature film‚ Le Dernier plan (The Last Shot)‚ and long conversations with Alain Robbe-Grillet.
He published the first biography of Jacques Derrida.
The book was translated into English by Polity Press in 2012.