A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning Paperback – November 21, 2016

Used but in near perfect condition as described. The boy arrived on time. The book excellent. Well written and researched.

I feel often that even at 71 I don’t find joy, purpose or meaning to my life! I’m still searching!

I really enjoyed the historical setting the author provided for most of Camus major works. Peaking through the veil of each work to the history that cultivated it was enjoyable. As a fan of Camus this is a great addition to works dedicated to understanding him better and ultimately helping each of us to carry his mantle in whatever ways we can. Good read.

One might say that this volume, though written to be expository, might also reflect the author's unconscious tendency to be just a bit exhortatory as well. The development of Camus' thought as it related to his background and life experiences is described clearly and excellently, and perhaps just as much so is Robert Zaresky's passionate conviction that Camus's thought is still as relevant today as it was in the days of the Third Reich and then the Cold War.

Drawn to Camus' work, I looked forward to reading Robert Zaretsky's book and expected a personal overview, hopefully with fresh insights. I was, I'm afraid, rather disappointed. Zaretsky clearly appreciates Camus, and argues that Camus was a moralist rather than an Existentialist. Camus himself disclaimed the Existential label - mostly as a result of his break with Jean-Paul Sartre after the publication of "The Rebel." Still, to me he was more than a moralist. His work raises larger philosophical issues about human mortality, the limits of knowledge and the "benign indifference" of the universe. Zaretsky tends to underplay this dimension of Camus' thought, and thereby underplays the important connections Camus made between metaphysics and ethics.There are perhaps personal disagreements. What I found even more disappointing in the book was the apparent lack of editing and/or proofreading. There were countless signs of editorial neglect, and this in a book from Harvard University Press.

A beautiful little book exploring the complex mind of a beautiful writer, a beautiful man. "Yes, there is beauty and there are the humiliated," Camus wrote. "Whatever the difficulties the enterprise may present, I would never like to be unfaithful either to one or the other." I can't imagine a more clear-eyed goal in life.

One of the most profoundly illuminating books that I have ever read. If only our political leaders would read it, we could reduce the sufferer wrought by man against man. Thank you to Robert Zaretsky for the clarity and passion of his writing on Albert Camus.

Very nice blend of biographical and critical insights into an important and surprisingly timely writer.