 He completed writing it in 1776.The book is in the form of three dialogues between two characters; a "Frenchman" and "Rousseau" who argue about the merits and demerits of a third character—an author called "Jean-Jacques".It has been described as his most unreadable work; in the foreword to the book, Rousseau admits that it may be repetitious and disorderly, but he begs the reader's indulgence on the grounds that he needs to defend his reputation from slander before he dies.