ABSTRACT
It was my interest in conspiracy theory that led me to Umberto Eco. I read Foucault's Pendulum looking for an insight into the workings of this popular knowledge. I brought contemporary conspiracy theory to Eco. He might say, I used his text - imposed a structure of reading not checked upon the coherence of the text as a whole. But, I want to suggest, such a reading and various others, considerably more cavalier, structure and inform the kinds of interpretations more readily sanctioned by Eco’s theory of reading. Eco recommends economic interpretation - readings which have found the shortest and most logical route from a to b. I want to examine what is lost or overlooked on this journey.
