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
Results 1-5 of 37
Page 5
... walk down to Lessingstrasse 22, where he rented a large, bare room from Professor Karl Biedermann, editor of the liberal newspaper Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. He describes his mood as one of indescribable elation. He had first ...
... walk down to Lessingstrasse 22, where he rented a large, bare room from Professor Karl Biedermann, editor of the liberal newspaper Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. He describes his mood as one of indescribable elation. He had first ...
Page 21
... walking with his mother or his sister he would walk five paces in front, to shield them from “perils” such as mud A Musical Evening 21.
... walking with his mother or his sister he would walk five paces in front, to shield them from “perils” such as mud A Musical Evening 21.
Page 35
... walking question thin and fragile; I was her doctor and saw to. mark... “'Across from me dwells a nun, whom I visit now and then in order to take joy in her excellent behavior... Earlier, she was a nun, slur German Athens 35.
... walking question thin and fragile; I was her doctor and saw to. mark... “'Across from me dwells a nun, whom I visit now and then in order to take joy in her excellent behavior... Earlier, she was a nun, slur German Athens 35.
Page 40
... walking distance. But even while missing them he was able to put the distance between them to good, if dishonest, use. They still believed that he intended to join the Church and he failed to disabuse them. He decided that his life up ...
... walking distance. But even while missing them he was able to put the distance between them to good, if dishonest, use. They still believed that he intended to join the Church and he failed to disabuse them. He decided that his life up ...
Page 41
... walk with a certain Herr D., who belonged to an association that was on dueling terms with the Franconia. Nietzsche was struck by what a pleasant adversary Herr D. would make. He said to him, “You are a man after my own heart, could we ...
... walk with a certain Herr D., who belonged to an association that was on dueling terms with the Franconia. Nietzsche was struck by what a pleasant adversary Herr D. would make. He said to him, “You are a man after my own heart, could we ...
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