Noam Chomsky

Published by The MIT Press in 1997, this biography follows the life of linguist and political writer Noam Chomsky. Robert Barsky, who wrote the book, traces Chomsky's path from his early intellectual formation to his position as one of the most cited and most contested voices of his era. The title points to the book's central interest: the sustained, outspoken opposition that has defined Chomsky's public career.

The book gives equal attention to Chomsky's scholarly work in linguistics and to his activism, especially his critiques of American foreign policy and the media. Readers interested in how a leading academic came to challenge the institutions that shaped him will find the subject at the heart of the account.