-
I Am Dynamite!
- A Life of Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 10-30-18
- Language: English
- Publisher: Random House Audio
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $31.50
People who bought this also bought...
-
Hiking with Nietzsche
- On Becoming Who You Are
- By: John Kaag
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Hiking with Nietzsche is a tale of two philosophical journeys - one made by John Kaag as an introspective young man of 19, the other 17 years later and in quite different circumstances: as a husband and father. Both journeys are made in search of the wisdom at the core of Nietzsche's philosophy, but they deliver him to radically different interpretations and, more crucially, revelations about the human condition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another great book by John Kaag
- By August on 09-28-18
-
Like a Thief in Broad Daylight
- Power in the Era of Post-Humanity
- By: Slavoj Žižek
- Narrated by: Jamie East
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world - changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new audiobook, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realisation of Marx's prediction that 'all that is solid melts into air'.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Way past time Zizek’s books start being available in audio format
- By Thomas on 12-03-18
-
Goethe
- Life as a Work of Art
- By: Rüdiger Safranksi, David Dollenmayer - translator
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3
Rüdiger Safranski's Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is the first definitive biography in a generation to tell the larger-than-life story of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Drawing upon the trove of letters, diaries, and notebooks Goethe left behind, as well as correspondence and criticism from Goethe's contemporaries, Safranski weaves a rich tale of Europe in the throes of revolution and of the man whose ideas heralded a new era.
-
Fryderyk Chopin
- A Life and Times
- By: Dr. Alan Walker
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Based on 10 years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin.
-
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
- A Contrivance of Horror
- By: Thomas Ligotti
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
His fiction is known to be some of the most terrifying in the genre of supernatural horror, but Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction book may be even scarier. Drawing on philosophy, literature, neuroscience, and other fields of study, Ligotti takes the penetrating lens of his imagination and turns it on his audience, causing them to grapple with the brutal reality that they are living a meaningless nightmare, and anyone who feels otherwise is simply acting out an optimistic fallacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for the faint of heart.
- By Zan on 12-24-18
-
Untimely Considerations
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Untimely Considerations contain four essays: 'David Strauss - Writer and Confessor'; 'On the Use and Abuse of History for Life'; 'Schopenhauer as Educator'; and 'Richard Wagner at Bayreuth'. The essays date from the early part of Nietzsche’s life when his Romantic view on life and art was coloured by the powerful writings and personalities of such figures as Schopenhauer and Wagner - as the titles of two of the essays proclaim. Published between 1873 and 1876, they were presented under the umbrella title 'Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen'.
-
Hiking with Nietzsche
- On Becoming Who You Are
- By: John Kaag
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Hiking with Nietzsche is a tale of two philosophical journeys - one made by John Kaag as an introspective young man of 19, the other 17 years later and in quite different circumstances: as a husband and father. Both journeys are made in search of the wisdom at the core of Nietzsche's philosophy, but they deliver him to radically different interpretations and, more crucially, revelations about the human condition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another great book by John Kaag
- By August on 09-28-18
-
Like a Thief in Broad Daylight
- Power in the Era of Post-Humanity
- By: Slavoj Žižek
- Narrated by: Jamie East
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In recent years, techno-scientific progress has started to utterly transform our world - changing it almost beyond recognition. In this extraordinary new audiobook, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek turns to look at the brave new world of Big Tech, revealing how, with each new wave of innovation, we find ourselves moving closer and closer to a bizarrely literal realisation of Marx's prediction that 'all that is solid melts into air'.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Way past time Zizek’s books start being available in audio format
- By Thomas on 12-03-18
-
Goethe
- Life as a Work of Art
- By: Rüdiger Safranksi, David Dollenmayer - translator
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3
Rüdiger Safranski's Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is the first definitive biography in a generation to tell the larger-than-life story of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Drawing upon the trove of letters, diaries, and notebooks Goethe left behind, as well as correspondence and criticism from Goethe's contemporaries, Safranski weaves a rich tale of Europe in the throes of revolution and of the man whose ideas heralded a new era.
-
Fryderyk Chopin
- A Life and Times
- By: Dr. Alan Walker
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Based on 10 years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin.
-
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
- A Contrivance of Horror
- By: Thomas Ligotti
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
His fiction is known to be some of the most terrifying in the genre of supernatural horror, but Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction book may be even scarier. Drawing on philosophy, literature, neuroscience, and other fields of study, Ligotti takes the penetrating lens of his imagination and turns it on his audience, causing them to grapple with the brutal reality that they are living a meaningless nightmare, and anyone who feels otherwise is simply acting out an optimistic fallacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for the faint of heart.
- By Zan on 12-24-18
-
Untimely Considerations
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Untimely Considerations contain four essays: 'David Strauss - Writer and Confessor'; 'On the Use and Abuse of History for Life'; 'Schopenhauer as Educator'; and 'Richard Wagner at Bayreuth'. The essays date from the early part of Nietzsche’s life when his Romantic view on life and art was coloured by the powerful writings and personalities of such figures as Schopenhauer and Wagner - as the titles of two of the essays proclaim. Published between 1873 and 1876, they were presented under the umbrella title 'Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen'.
-
The Fall
- By: Albert Camus
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Elegantly styled, Camus' profoundly disturbing novel of a Parisian lawyer's confessions is a searing study of modern amorality.
-
Ibn Khaldun
- An Intellectual Biography
- By: Robert Irwin
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 4
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Issues with accuracy, pronounciation
- By Moh 3aly on 01-02-19
-
Fear and Trembling
- By: Soren Kierkegaard
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
From the perspective of an unbeliever, Fear and Trembling explores the paradox of faith, the nature of Christianity, and the complexity of human emotion. Kierkegaard examines the biblical story of Abraham, who was instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac, and forces us to consider Abraham's state of mind. What drove Abraham, and what made him carry out such an absurd and extreme request from God? Kierkegaard argues that Abraham's agreement to sacrifice Isaac, and his suspension of reason, elevated him to the highest level of faith.
-
The Infidel and the Professor
- David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
- By: Dennis C. Rasmussen
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Vividly written, The Infidel and the Professor is a compelling account of a great friendship of two towering Enlightenment thinkers that had great consequences for modern thought. David Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime, he was attacked as "the Great Infidel" for his skeptical religious views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy and is now often hailed as the founding father of capitalism.
-
The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Being is more interesting than Nothing
- By Gary on 11-08-18
-
Exact Thinking in Demented Times
- The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science
- By: Karl Sigmund
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
Inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert's pursuit of the fundamental rules of mathematics, some of the most brilliant minds of the generation came together in post-World War I Vienna to present the latest theories in mathematics, science, and philosophy and to build a strong foundation for scientific investigation. Composed of such luminaries as Kurt Gödel and Rudolf Carnap, and stimulated by the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper, the Vienna Circle left an indelible mark on science.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Historical narrative, with physics and despair.
- By Philip J. Kurle on 10-08-18
-
Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right
- By: Ronald Beiner
- Narrated by: Kevin Moriarty
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
In Dangerous Minds, Ronald Beiner traces the deepest philosophical roots of such right-wing ideologues as Richard Spencer, Aleksandr Dugin, and Steve Bannon to the writings of Nietzsche and Heidegger - and specifically to the aspects of their thought that express revulsion for the liberal-democratic view of life. Beiner contends that Nietzsche's hatred and critique of bourgeois, egalitarian societies has engendered new disciples on the populist right who threaten to overturn the modern liberal consensus.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It's okay not to tolerate the extreme right wing
- By Gary on 07-19-18
-
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know
- By: Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: Colm Toibin
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3
Elegant, profound, and riveting, Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know illuminates not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways these men surface in their work. Through these stories of fathers and sons, Tóibín recounts the resistance to English cultural domination, the birth of modern Irish cultural identity, and the extraordinary contributions of these complex and masterful authors.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eminently re-readable
- By Elaine on 01-02-19
-
The Lost History of Liberalism
- From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
- By: Helena Rosenblatt
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry - and a term of derision - in today's increasingly divided public square. Taking listeners from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words "liberal" and "liberalism", revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning. In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights.
-
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
- By: Diogenes Laertius, Pamela Mensch - translator, James Miller - editor
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 28 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
This anthology is a miscellany of maxims and anecdotes that generations of Western readers have consulted for edification as well as entertainment ever since Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, first compiled in the AD third century, came to prominence in Renaissance Italy. To this day, it remains a crucial source for much of what we know about the origins and practice of philosophy in ancient Greece.
-
Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment, and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
-
Take My Course, Please! The Philosophy of Humor
- By: Steven Gimbel, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Steven Gimbel
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 10
In recent decades, the philosophy of humor has been recognized as a legitimate subfield of philosophy. The reason for this? Because to understand how humor works is to better understand the nature of human experience. In these 24 insightful, informative, illuminating, and (yes) humorous lectures, explore the philosophical theories and explanations of humor, from blatantly obvious puns to complex narratives to sly twists of language.
Publisher's Summary
New York Times Editors' Choice
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 listeners 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.
Critic Reviews
“An exemplary biography.... Nietzsche steps out of the mists of obfuscation and rumor, vividly evoked.... An attentive, scrupulous portrait.” (Parul Seghal, The New York Times)
“This vibrant account of Friedrich Nietzsche’s life is a searching portrait of the philosopher and a keen assessment of his work.... Nietzsche often worried that he would be misread and misused; that he was, and still is, underlines the value of clear-eyed interpretations such as this.” (The New Yorker)
"Prideaux’s biography is a strikingly original portrait of Nietzsche and beautifully written." (Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad)
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars37
-
4 Stars14
-
3 Stars2
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars41
-
4 Stars7
-
3 Stars3
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars36
-
4 Stars11
-
3 Stars3
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0