Alice Smith’s Reviews > At the Existentialist Café > Status Update

Stories collide!! “Ellison used a Prix de Rome fellowship to move to Italy for two years after the success of Invisible Man- although he did miss America, and returned to it.”

“It is often mythologised as a drama in which Sartre, a ‘dreaming boy’ chasing an impossible fantasy, meets his comeuppance in the form of a clear-sighted moral hero who also happens to be cooler and wiser and better-looking: Camus.”

I have not stopped! This book is so good. It’s written by a true teacher, and the author does not waste a sentence. Philosophy can be a slog, but the wit and clear passion for the subject makes it a relatively easy read. Bakewell is here to share her love for thought, not dunk on you with big words. Caution: there are still big words.