Persuasion and Rhetoric

Ranked #63 in Rhetoric

Carlo Michelstaedter (1887-1910) committed suicide at the age of 23, days after completing this devastating treatise on the human condition and the course of Western civilization. This work was deemed to be so radically nihilistic, or so radically idealistic, that publishers shied away from it for decades. This new English translation brings to life the heartfelt text of the precocious Italian-Jewish writer, poet, and painter, who, refusing to compromise with life, remained loyal to his ideal of a perfect world. Keenly aware of the inevitable catastrophe that the values of his time held in... more

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