Clare Carlisle’s revelatory ‘Transcendence for Beginners’

“In this elegant, eloquent, elegiac book, Clare Carlisle describes the movements of other lives, as well as those of her own life, that open paths to understanding what it means to live a life of devotion.... In an era marked by rampant cruelty and selfishness, Transcendence for Beginners offers its readers various modes of the radiant life, one that embraces joy but can also navigate loss and grief in that strange flux of being we call ‘time.’” —Siri Hustvedt TRANSCENDENCE FOR BEGINNERS LIFE WRITING AND PHILOSOPHY Clare Carlisle Transcendence for Beginners is an innovative book about philosophy and life writing, exploring how each practice might complement the other and so contribute to a greater understanding of human existence. Reflecting on writers and thinkers from Europe and India—such as Spinoza and Kierkegaard, Maharshi and Proust—Clare Carlisle examines how deep, genuine wisdom and goodness are transmitted by individual lives. She considers her own intertwined pursuits as a philosopher and a biographer, as well as her roles as a mother and a daughter. Animated by the spirit of inquiry and the desire to share its rewards, Transcendence for Beginners is a generous, enlivening work by one of today's most original thinkers. “This is the book of a lifetime, and a book about lifetimes. What is the relationship between philosophy and biography? How can a line of writing reveal a line of living? Clare Carlisle is a guide and a guru: Transcendence for Beginners is a transformative and transcending experience.” —Frances Wilson For three days only, Transcendence for Beginners  is available at 25% off. BUY THE BOOK   Events with Clare Carlisle Wednesday, April 15, at 7pm ET Harvard Book Store 1256 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA with James Wood More information here Thursday, April 16, at 7pm ET McNally Jackson Seaport 4 Fulton St, New York, NY with Simon Critchley RSVP here Saturday, April 18, at 2pm ET The New York Society Library (in-person & virtual) 53 E 79th St, New York, NY with Noreen Khawaja Get tickets here You are receiving this message because you signed up for email newsletters from NYRB. You can choose the types of mailings you wish to receive: Update preferences   New York Review Books 207 East 32nd Street New York, NY 10016-6305 Not a subscriber? Sign up for our newsletter here. Unsubscribe