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How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer Paperback – September 20, 2011

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,309 ratings

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Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, from the author of
Humanly Possible

How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love—such questions arise in most people’s lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: How do you live? This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, considered by many to be the first truly modern individual. He wrote free-roaming explorations of his thoughts and experience, unlike anything written before. More than four hundred years later, Montaigne’s honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come to him in search of companionship, wisdom, and entertainment —and in search of themselves. Just as they will to this spirited and singular biography.
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From the Publisher

How to Live A Life of Montaigne Sarah Bakewell Anthony Bourdain

How to Live A Life of Montaigne Sarah Bakewell

How to Live A Life of Montaigne Sarah Bakewell

How to Live A Life of Montaigne Sarah Bakewell

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This charming biography shuffles incidents from Montaigne’s life and essays into twenty thematic chapters…Bakewell clearly relishes the anthropological anecdotes that enliven Montaigne’s work, but she handles equally well both his philosophical influences and the readers and interpreters who have guided the reception of the essays.” —The New Yorker

“Serious, engaging, and so infectiously in love with its subject that I found myself racing to finish so I could start rereading the Essays themselves…It is hard to imagine a better introduction—or reintroduction—to Montaigne than Bakewell’s book.” —Lorin Stein, Harper’s Magazine

“Ms. Bakewell’s new book, How to Live, is a biography, but in the form of a delightful conversation across the centuries.” —The New York Times

“So artful is Bakewell’s account of [Montaigne] that even skeptical readers may well come to share her admiration.” —The New York Times Book Review
 

“Extraordinary…a miracle of complex, revelatory organization, for as Bakewell moves along she provides a brilliant demonstration of the alchemy of historical viewpoint.” —
Boston Globe

“Well, How to Live is a superb book, original, engaging, thorough, ambitious, and wise.” —Nick Hornby, in the November/December 2010 issue of The Believer
 
“In How to Live, an affectionate introduction to the author, Bakewell argues that, far from being a dusty old philosopher, Montaigne has never been more relevant—a 16th-century blogger, as she would have it—and so must be read, quite simply, ‘in order to live’…Bakewell is a wry and intelligent guide.” —The Daily Beast

“Witty, unorthodox…
How to Live is a history of ideas told entirely on the ground, never divorced from the people thinking them. It hews close to Montaigne’s own preoccupations, especially his playful uncertainty – Bakewell is a stickler for what we can’t know. …How to Live is a delight…” —The Plain Dealer

“This book will have new readers excited to be acquainted to Montaigne’s life and ideas, and may even stir their curiosity to read more about the ancient Greek philosophers who influenced his writing.
How to Live is a great companion to Montaigne’s essays, and even a great stand-alone.” —San Francisco Book Review

“A bright, genial, and generous introduction to the master’s methods.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“[Bakewell reveals] one of literature's enduring figures as an idiosyncratic, humane, and surprisingly modern force.” —Publisher’s Weekly (starred)
 
“As described by Sarah Bakewell in her suavely enlightening
How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer Montaigne is, with Walt Whitman, among the most congenial of literary giants, inclined to shrug over the inevitability of human failings and the last man to accuse anyone of self-absorption. His great subject, after all, was himself.” —Laura Miller, Salon.com

“Lively and fascinating . . .
How To Live takes its place as the most enjoyable introduction to Montaigne in the English language.” —The Times Literary Supplement
 
“Splendidly conceived and exquisitely written . . . enormously absorbing.” —Sunday Times
 
How to Live will delight and illuminate.” —The Independent
  
“It is ultimately [Montaigne’s] life-loving vivacity that Bakewell succeeds in communicating to her readers.” —The Observer
 
“This subtle and surprising book manages the trick of conversing in a frank and friendly manner with its centuries-old literary giant, as with a contemporary, while helpfully placing Montaigne in a historical context.  The affection of the author for her subject is palpable and infectious.” —Phillip Lopate, author of The Art of the Personal Essay
 
“An intellectually lively treatment of a Renaissance giant and his world.” —Saturday Telegraph
 
“Like recent books on Proust, Joyce, and Austen, How to Live skillfully plucks a life-guide from the incessant flux of Montaigne’s prose . . . A superb, spirited introduction to the master.” —The Guardian

“[How to Live] is written in the form of a delightful conversation across the ages with one of the most appealing, likeable writers who ever lived.” —Independent Mail

"
More than just a straightforward biography of Michel de Montaigne, Sarah Bakewell cleverly breaks away from chronology to explore the fundamental questions of living through the philosophy, beliefs, essays and experiences of the French master we often reference as the “father” of “essay.”—Cerise Press

"[A] must-read in its entirety." 
—Brainpickings

"Bakewell’s writing style is equal parts fluid and fascinating."
 —The Flâneur’s Turtle 

About the Author

Sarah Bakewell was a curator of early printed books at the Wellcome Library before becoming a full-time writer, publishing her highly acclaimed biographies The Smart and The English Dane. She lives in London, where she teaches creative writing at City University and catalogs rare book collections for the National Trust.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Other Press; Reprint edition (September 20, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590514831
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590514832
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.48 x 1.09 x 8.26 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,309 ratings

About the author

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Sarah Bakewell
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Sarah Bakewell was born in Bournemouth on the English south coast, but spent most of her childhood in Sydney, Australia, after several years travelling the hippie trail through Asia with her parents. Returning to Britain, she studied philosophy at the University of Essex and worked as a curator of early printed books at London’s Wellcome Library for ten years before devoting herself to full-time writing in 2002. She now lives mostly in London, and teaches Creative Writing at Kellogg College, Oxford.

Her four books are all biographical, and the most recent two, 'How to Live: a life of Montaigne' and 'At the Existentialist Cafe', also explore philosophical ideas. 'How to Live' won the Duff Cooper Prize and the U.S. National Book Critics' Circle Award for Biography, and 'At the Existentialist Cafe' was chosen in 2016 as one of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,309 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and engaging, providing an insightful look into Montaigne's life and philosophy. They praise the writing quality as excellent, conversational, and humane. The visual style is described as whimsical and elegant, with ample illustrations. Readers appreciate the author's character study and appreciate Montaigne's humor and joie de vivre.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

97 customers mention "Insight"92 positive5 negative

Customers find the book helpful and informative for understanding Montaigne's life and times. They appreciate the author's skill in combining biographical details with philosophical concepts. Readers describe it as an enjoyable, insightful biography that provides a unique perspective on his life and times.

"...its subject—a pleasant, human and humane read that takes on difficult subjects with a light touch and details experiences that will find echoes in..." Read more

"...not methodical, not heroic, not pretentious, not prudish and not serious about life. Nor were his essays any of these things...." Read more

"Bakewell's monograph about Montaigne offers a unique vision of the stateman's influence since the 16th Century...." Read more

"...The qualities he valued were curiosity, sociability, kindness, fellow-feeling, adaptability, intelligent reflection, the ability to see things from..." Read more

87 customers mention "Enjoyment"87 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They find it entertaining, engaging, and memorable. The stories help readers glimpse Protestantism in France during that time. Readers praise the author as superb and a scholar who makes marvelous writing with great conviction.

"...The book is very much like its subject—a pleasant, human and humane read that takes on difficult subjects with a light touch and details experiences..." Read more

"...Like the essays, it takes playful twists and turns, doubling back, folding in on itself, telling parts of the same story sometimes in three..." Read more

"...Well-written and engaging." Read more

"...marvelous essays, an introduction to the history of editing his great masterpiece, and a lively and fascinating narrative of informed and popular..." Read more

57 customers mention "Writing quality"52 positive5 negative

Customers find the book's writing engaging and easy to read. They appreciate the conversational style and the author's ability to guide readers through Montaigne's thoughts and life. The writing is described as humane, with interesting details.

"...The book is very much like its subject—a pleasant, human and humane read that takes on difficult subjects with a light touch and details experiences..." Read more

"...Well-written and engaging." Read more

"...The qualities he valued were curiosity, sociability, kindness, fellow-feeling, adaptability, intelligent reflection, the ability to see things from..." Read more

"...But the plain fact is that Bakewell is also a stylish writer, capable of holding our fascinated (and occasionally amused) attention, even when she..." Read more

13 customers mention "Visual style"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the engaging visual style of the book. They find it whimsical and elegant, with an abundance of illustrations. The book provides a vivid picture of life in Montaigne's era and explains a great deal. It is thoughtful and continuously engaging, providing a thoughtful and insightful portrait of Montaigne and his times.

"...thinker in a long bygone, tumultuous era, and if you care about artful construction and stylish writing, this might be the book for you...." Read more

"...writing in a way no one ever had before: honestly & organically & whimsically...He called each topic an "Essay" as in an "Assay" or analysis or an "..." Read more

"...Gives a vivid picture of life in Montaigne's era and explains a great deal about his philosophy and writings...." Read more

"A fascinating look at a well-known personality and thinker, giving insight into a life so different from yet so similar to our own." Read more

12 customers mention "Character study"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's character study of Montaigne. They find it provides key biographical details on his life, providing insight into this famous figure of Western literature. Readers describe him as fascinating and amazing.

"...very much feels like real presence in this book, one with a distinctive personality that is vividly represented by the author...." Read more

"...a rich perspective and insight into this famous and fascinating figure of western literature. I really enjoyed this style of biography...." Read more

"Positive (For the non-expert Montaigne reader): Relates many key biographical points on Montaigne's life to readers who would never have even..." Read more

"...sample of a full host of philosophies, a top rate history and character study, and a pleasant and engaging story in it's own right...." Read more

7 customers mention "Humor"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the author's humor and joie de vivre. They appreciate his wit, wisdom, self-awareness, and friendship with two witty friends. The book highlights his curiosity, sociability, kindness, and fellow-feeling.

"...The qualities he valued were curiosity, sociability, kindness, fellow-feeling, adaptability, intelligent reflection, the ability to see things from..." Read more

"I am so glad to have come across this old book full of wisdom and wit...." Read more

"...; with a fresh appreciation of his wisdom, self-awareness, humor and joie de vivre...." Read more

"...Book has depth and dry humor, makes it compelling and enjoyable." Read more

6 customers mention "Life story"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the life story. They find it a joy to read and a wonderful example for the lasting afterlife of Montaigne. The author brings the heart of Montaigne alive again and helps us understand this great writer. It is a guide for a good life or a history of France that we didn't know.

"...view ideas about paying attention, not worrying about death, surviving love and loss, waking from the sleep of habit, and reflect on everything..." Read more

"Bakewell's book is a joy to read - and a wonderful example for the lasting afterlife of Montaigne...." Read more

"This book will be like a friend--to be revisited continually through life to learn as much as one can from your friend and to learn as much as you..." Read more

"...It dives into various aspects of the work and Montaigne's life and times. It's neither a full-on biography nor a full-on critique of the Essays...." Read more

14 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive9 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's pacing. Some find it engaging and informative, wandering from topic to topic. They say it takes them inside the shifts of culture and makes Renaissance France look not so different. Others feel it's disappointing, somewhat disappointing, and boring.

"...He was not consistent, not methodical, not heroic, not pretentious, not prudish and not serious about life...." Read more

"...study of Montaigne's life and writings in 16th century France, very probing, well written and memorable...." Read more

"I too was not much enthralled by this book; perhaps I am not academic enough to enjoy the seemingly endless discussions of minutiae that scholars..." Read more

"...Montaigne was lazy and had many qualities that made him seem like a coward and seem like someone who could not make a decision...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2017
    Sarah Bakewell’s biography of Montaigne won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography in 2010. It is a fine book, one that will engage the attention of all readers interested in the subject. That subject, of course, is very wide-ranging. Inspired by the philosophers of antiquity, Montaigne is one of the principal French writers of the Renaissance. To a degree he created the ‘essay’ form and his work has been pivotal for later thinkers. John Florio’s English translation was taught—in my day—as a work of literature itself and it helped to popularize a writer ‘adopted’ by the English as one of their own, at least in interests, spirit and unique personality. Montaigne was claimed by the romantics; he influenced Nietzsche, heartened the postmodernists and remains a writer of global importance and influence.

    SB’s biography answers the question, ‘how to live?’ in twenty chapters, each of them keyed to a theme in Montaigne’s work. Hence, chapter 9: “Q. How to live? A. Be convivial: live with others.” The themes, however, do not trump the biography. This is not an endless examination of thematic content with an occasional look at the events in Montaigne’s life. It is a systematic biography held together by thin thematic divisions.

    It is also a very learned biography, expanding at length, e.g., on the civil wars of the period, the driving ideologies, weaponry and specific details, both personal and political. It studies, e.g., the manner in which the texts of the Essays have come down to us, (what we would call) the copy texts, the emendations, the condensations, and so on. There is comparatively little on the content of the Essays themselves, ‘comparatively’ being the operative word. We learn a great deal about Montaigne’s classical influences, the nature of his pyrhonnism, the dimensions of his political associations, his personal relationships, his estate, its winemaking, and so on, but the only essay that is discussed at some length is (as one would expect) the longest of the essays, the Apology for Raymond Sebond.

    It is sometimes said that the first requirement for a great biography is the author’s love for her subject (balanced, always, by a willingness to speak the truth, wherever its elements might fall). SB clearly admires Montaigne and wishes that today’s thinkers, writers and politicians (Montaigne served in all three capacities) would read him, be inspired by him and take lessons from him.

    The writing is crisp and clear, direct and candid. While it is undergirded by a great deal of scholarship that scholarship does not drag the book down and bore the reader with tedious details. It contains a bibliography, index and series of endnotes, sufficient to guide the reader to other texts and explore/verify issues that have come under question.

    The book is very much like its subject—a pleasant, human and humane read that takes on difficult subjects with a light touch and details experiences that will find echoes in the reader’s own heart.

    Highly recommended.
    83 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2014
    Michel de Montaigne (pronounced MON TANE in English and MON TAN YAH in French) was a French essayist who lived from 1533 -1592. He was a member of the provincial nobility, for a while the mayor of Bordeaux and at times a friend of the powerful Admiral Coligny, who sent him on missions to the King. Mainly, however, he is known for the essays he wrote at his country estate.

    One factor that shaped his life was that his body produced kidney stones, which at the time were not only grotesquely painful but also potentially fatal (if you have never seen a kidney stone, there is a photograph in the book of what these agents of torture look like, little spheres with sharp spikes which are emitted, if you are lucky, through the penis). Knowing that he might die at any moment in agony, as ultimately he did, shaped his philosophy.

    His philosophy was to be moderate, to be ordinary and to appreciate the smaller things of life. He was not consistent, not methodical, not heroic, not pretentious, not prudish and not serious about life. Nor were his essays any of these things. He is supposed to have been influenced by certain Greek and Roman philosophers, but he reminds me a bit of Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses. During a period when Catholics and Protestants were murdering each other like Sunnis and Shias today, he tried to persuade people not to take religion so seriously, and to grant other people their humanity. His greatest gift was the gift of empathy.

    This book is about his life, his works and the period in which he lived. There is a description of what it was like to travel from Bordeaux to Rome. At the gates of Rome Montaigne's baggage was searched for subversive materials. The author compares this to what it was like to travel to Moscow before the end of communism. There is a description of the horrible religious wars that took place during Montaigne's lifetime. There is also a description of the death of Henry III. Henry was stabbed to death by a vengeful Catholic priest while he (Henry) sat on the toilet. The question arises, how did the priest get in the bathroom? Apparently, it was the custom for royalty to receive visitors while sitting on the toilet. The ways of the exalted are mysterious to ordinary people like you and me.

    The book also traces how Montaigne's essays were well received during his lifetime, and how future generations shaped him in accordance with their own spirits. The Catholic Church proscribed his works, then relented. He was made into a precursor of the Enlightenment by people of the Enlightenment and the precursor of Romanticism by romantics, and so on.

    This book, like the essays of Montaigne themselves, is anything but linear. Like the essays, it takes playful twists and turns, doubling back, folding in on itself, telling parts of the same story sometimes in three different places. Sometimes it tells a story for no other reason than that it is a good story. For instance, the author says that since Montaigne is not alone at the pinnacle of French literature as Shakespeare is with English literature, Montaigne has never attracted people who deny that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays. But then, immediately contradicting herself, just like Montaigne would have done, the author proceeds to tell the story of one 19th century crank who believed that not only did Francis Bacon write the plays of Shakespeare but also the essays of Montaigne, Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy and all of Christopher Marlowe's plays. Such asides have very little to do with the theme of the book, but that is typically how Montaigne himself would have written.

    The author says that many people love Montaigne because he reminds them of themselves. So too with this book. It is a book which I would have wanted to have written myself, if I had had the skill. It also made me go out and buy French and English texts of Montaigne, and a CD of someone reading some of his essays.
    53 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
    Bakewell's monograph about Montaigne offers a unique vision of the stateman's influence since the 16th Century. Montaigne's essays offer a wealth of information, and Bakewell breaks down his work about "How to Live". I would have pushed the title a little further, though: "How to Live Well".

    We get to view ideas about paying attention, not worrying about death, surviving love and loss, waking from the sleep of habit, and reflect on everything while regretting nothing.

    Well-written and engaging.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2024
    I read it several times already and it never get stale. Thank you, Sarah.
    Montaigne is as fresh today as he was 450 years ago.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Lisa H
    5.0 out of 5 stars What a delight!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 24, 2021
    I am in my heaven and swooning! Getting reacquainted with Montaigne 40+ years after first reading his Essays. Sarah Bakewell has done a splendid job exploring and explaining the man, his work, and the context of his existence and legacy. Highly recommend! Profound, yet an easy and quick read. I will re-read this treasure trove of a book many times, no doubt.
  • R. O. Iranzo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable para conocer a Montaigne
    Reviewed in Spain on July 30, 2023
    Me ha gustado mucho. La atora conoce muy bien a Montaigne y lo ha leído con profundidad: lo explica muy bien y lo hace más asequible al organizarlo por temas. Aunque mi primera lengua no es el inglés lo he encontrado asequible a mi nivel, gracias al kindle y la posibilidad de consultar el diccionario o traducir.
  • Karim Ghazi Wakili
    5.0 out of 5 stars A superb introduction into the life and mind of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
    Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2022
    Masterfully written with a huge amount of information about Montaigne and his time.
    I do not understand the critics I read below.
    You can only understand a philosopher in the context of his time and life experience. The idea of a pasteurized purified and consequently frigid philosophy is nothing but a delusion.
    And as a physicist i doknow that the equipment you use to investigate a phenomenon influences the result. In other words nobody can write a biography without bias, Of course, Sarah Bakewell is more than entitled to put her own colour,taste and preferences to her perception of Montaigne. She is not amachine translater !!!!
    As of the references some other critics mentioned, ther are 35 pages of notes andsources in the book.
    It wouldbe nice if more peoplewould write about Montaigne in such an interesting way,so that the audience couldmakeitsown mind which one to accept best.
    I formy turn bought "Les Essaias" in modern french version, in German (my mother-tongue) and in Persian (my father-tongue) تتبعات which I am going to read simultaneously,
    Thank you Sarah Bakewell for having shown me the way.
  • Milan Durovic
    5.0 out of 5 stars well written, got me interested in Montaigne
    Reviewed in Australia on July 29, 2022
    The book is providing a lot of historical context and details about Montaigne's personal life, when addressing particular answers to the central question. This is not an abridged, short version of the original, but the original contribution of the author, about the life of a very interesting and influential individual. Highly recommended.
  • Som
    5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle and wise introduction to a great thinker and his thoughts
    Reviewed in India on February 4, 2017
    Sarah Bakewell's biography of Montaigne is a little like the essays of its subject: it is written in beautiful, flowing prose (although she keeps reminding us that his French would not pass muster today); it sometimes meanders, sometimes darts, from one subject to another; it is suffused with probing intellect, but also with wisdom and tolerance; and it leaves one richer for the reading. Ms. Bakewell has written not only an interesting account of Montaigne's quite remarkable life, but also a very accessible introduction to his ideas (to the extent that they weren't changing all the time). Well worth reading.