I Am Dynamite!: A Life of NietzscheNEW YORK TIMES Editors’ Choice • THE TIMES BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR • WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE A groundbreaking new biography of philosophy’s greatest iconoclast Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most enigmatic figures in philosophy, and his concepts—the Übermensch, the will to power, slave morality—have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the human condition. But what do most people really know of Nietzsche—beyond the mustache, the scowl, and the lingering association with nihilism and fascism? Where do we place a thinker who was equally beloved by Albert Camus, Ayn Rand, Martin Buber, and Adolf Hitler? Nietzsche wrote that all philosophy is autobiographical, and in this vividly compelling, myth-shattering biography, Sue Prideaux brings readers into the world of this brilliant, eccentric, and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work. From his placid, devoutly Christian upbringing—overshadowed by the mysterious death of his father—through his teaching career, lonely philosophizing on high mountains, and heart-breaking descent into madness, Prideaux documents Nietzsche’s intellectual and emotional life with a novelist’s insight and sensitivity. She also produces unforgettable portraits of the people who were most important to him, including Richard and Cosima Wagner, Lou Salomé, the femme fatale who broke his heart; and his sister Elizabeth, a rabid German nationalist and anti-Semite who manipulated his texts and turned the Nietzsche archive into a destination for Nazi ideologues. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand history's most misunderstood philosopher. |
From inside the book
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Page 8
... mother, nor toys, nor food, nor drink, but only his father lifting the lid of the piano and making music. In a musical nation, Pastor Nietzsche was exceptionally accomplished at the keyboard; people would come for miles to hear him play ...
... mother, nor toys, nor food, nor drink, but only his father lifting the lid of the piano and making music. In a musical nation, Pastor Nietzsche was exceptionally accomplished at the keyboard; people would come for miles to hear him play ...
Page 9
... mother Erdmuthe. The parsonage stood cheek by jowl with one of the oldest churches in the province of Saxony, an ancient fortress-church dating from the first half of the twelfth century. Under Frederick Barbarossa, its tall ...
... mother Erdmuthe. The parsonage stood cheek by jowl with one of the oldest churches in the province of Saxony, an ancient fortress-church dating from the first half of the twelfth century. Under Frederick Barbarossa, its tall ...
Page 10
... mother and half-sisters. He would shut himself up in his study for hours, refusing to eat, drink or talk. More alarmingly, he was given to mysterious attacks, when his speech would abruptly cease mid-sentence and he would stare into ...
... mother and half-sisters. He would shut himself up in his study for hours, refusing to eat, drink or talk. More alarmingly, he was given to mysterious attacks, when his speech would abruptly cease mid-sentence and he would stare into ...
Page 18
... mother had taught him to read and write when he was five years old. Boys' education started when they were six and in 1850 he was put into the Municipal School, attended by the children of the poor. His status-conscious sister Elisabeth ...
... mother had taught him to read and write when he was five years old. Boys' education started when they were six and in 1850 he was put into the Municipal School, attended by the children of the poor. His status-conscious sister Elisabeth ...
Page 21
... mother and sister who preserved every scrap from the pen of their idolized boy. The purpose of his musical compositions was to express the passionate love of God that permeated the emotionally intense household, a love that could not be ...
... mother and sister who preserved every scrap from the pen of their idolized boy. The purpose of his musical compositions was to express the passionate love of God that permeated the emotionally intense household, a love that could not be ...
Contents
1 | |
23 | |
40 | |
NAX0S 61 | 88 |
POlson CDTIAGE | 113 |
CONCEPTQUAKE | 126 |
THE LAST DISCIPLE AND THE FIRST DISCIPLE | 143 |
FREE AND NOT SO FREE SPIRITS | 157 |
MY FATHER WAGNER IS DEAD MY SON IARATHUSTRA is BORN | 243 |
DECLAIMING INTO THE WOID | 267 |
LLAMALAND | 281 |
TWILIGHT INTURIN | 307 |
THE CAVE MINOTAUR | 331 |
Aphorisms | 383 |
Photography Credits Insert | 397 |
Notes | 407 |
HUMAN All TDD HUMAN 111 | 182 |
PHILOSOPHY AND EROS | 198 |
THE PHILOSOPHERS APPRENTICE | 211 |
Select Bibliography | 429 |
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Common terms and phrases
anti-Semitic aphorisms archive arrived Basel Bayreuth become Bernhard Förster Birth of Tragedy brother Bülow called Carl von Gersdorff Christian Cosima Wagner culture death described Diary Dionysian Dionysus Ecce Homo Elisabeth Nietzsche Erwin Rohde eternal everything Evil eyes father felt festival Förster Förster-Nietzsche Franz Overbeck Franziska free spirit gave Gay Science German Greek Harry Kessler Human Ibid idea Idols intellectual King Ludwig lectures Leipzig letter live look Lou Salomé Malwida von Meysenbug mother Naumburg never Nietz Nietzsche to Franz Nietzsche's Nueva Germania opera Paraguay Paul Rée Peter Gast Pforta philology philosopher piano play poem Professor published Rée Resa Richard Wagner Ring sche Schmeitzner Section sent Sils-Maria sister soul Spoke Zarathustra things thought tion took Tribschen truth Turin Übermensch University Untimely Meditations Wagner and Cosima Wahnfried walk wanted Weimar writing wrote