The Portable Nietzsche

Book excerpt: A captivating collection of Friedrich Nietzsche’s seminal works, from his provocative musings on truth and morality to his profound exploration of human existence “In this volume, one may very conveniently have a rich review of one of the most sensitive, passionate, and misunderstood writers in Western, or any, literature.”—Newsweek “Few writers in any age were so full of ideas.”—Walter Kaufmann, from the Introduction The works of Friedrich Nietzsche have fascinated readers around the world ever since the publication of his first book more than a hundred years ago, yet few writers have been so consistently misinterpreted. The Portable Nietzsche includes Walter Kaufmann’s definitive translations of the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche’s four major works: Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In addition, Kaufmann brings together selections from his other books, notes, and letters, to give a full picture of Nietzsche’s development, versatility, and inexhaustibility. Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.