Name: How to Live, Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
ISBN: 9781590514252

Sarah Bakewell

Examines the essays of Michel de Montaigne that explored the search for the meaning of life, and profiles the philosopher using the questions he posed and the answers he explored.

How to Live, Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

How do you avoid being drawn into pointless arguments with a partner or colleague? / How do you deal with fanatics? / How do you balance the need to feel safe against the need to feel free? / What is the wisest way to behave if you are mugged, or assaulted, or held to ransom? / How do you reassure a gullible friend who thinks a witch has cast a spell on him? / How do you get over the death of someone you love? / How do you make the most of every moment, so that life does not slip away from you unnoticed and unappreciated? Questions like this u some small, others vast and barely answerable u arise in most people's lives (apart from the witch). All are variations on one great question: how do you live well?How do you do the right thing whatever life throws at you? We all face the 'how to live' question in our own way, but the idea that looking inwards, examining one's own life, can create a mirror for others, was not always obvious.

Ri Liu

I'm a fan of Bakewell's writing, but her book on existentialists gripped me a bit more than this one. I did quite enjoy the depiction of quibbling between the editors of Montaigne's essays, including the wholly predictable sexist sidelining of his female adopted-heir/publisher, despite hers being likely the most canonical of the editions.

How to Live, Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

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