I don't know what passes for acceptable input on this subreddit. I'm not the most well-versed in theory, but if you can explain dialectical materialism and how it works, explain what a dialectical relationship is, and explain that you understand yourself in relation to other people largely because when you think of yourself it is not you you are actually thinking of but how you see yourself, I think you will have a lot of success.

Simon Critchley is the editor of a "how to read" series. It focuses on continental philosophy.

There are some people on here who seem to be highly accomplished academics. I'm not. But most a lot of the french theorists are influenced by marxism. What that means, largely, is that many of the ideas incorporate elements of dialectical materialism.

Derrida is in response to dialectical materialism. His devaluing languge (he calls it thought excrement) and his idea of language imposing violence are social arguments basically made around the concept of dialectical materialism.

Foucault's arguments and ideas stem from what are largely marxist concepts about social structures. Foucault was taught by althusser. Althusser is a straight structuralist.

As far as understanding someone like zizek goes, if you understand what dialectical materialism is, and you have any familiarity with hegel and freud, you're fine. All lacan really is is a mix of hegel and freud.

Again, I'm talking about authors listed on the influential thinkers section.

The big publisher to look into is probably verso. Verso publishes adorno's minima moralia. I would honestly recommend dialectic of enlightenment, though.

I've read four of zizek's books. The parallax view is the best of his I've read. He repeats himself constantly and some of his books are basically self-plagiarism. The sublime object of ideology is good.