I wanted to be conscious of the purposes behind my choices, not let them guide me unawares. It was a point of honor not to profess views if I was not prepared to put them to the test of living them. Was I fearful? Did I anticipate tragedy, or great suffering at this moment of setting forth? No. I was filled with desire and thought I was ready for anything.
What Others are Saying: Reviews
David M. Armstrong, Author, Sketch for a Systematic Metaphysics (2010) and Truth and Truthmakers (2004):
“Since the Enlightenment, a number of people have tried to tell the truth about their own lives … Boswell, Rousseau, Stendahl, Celine—are there other women who have tried to do the same? I suppose Augustine was a pioneer. … I think what [Abigail L. Rosenthal has] done is a most splendid and courageous addition to the literature of trying to tell the truth about oneself.”
Cynthia Ozick, Author, Antiquities (2021) and Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays (2016):
“This powerful book will gradually make its way into Bildungsroman-like permanence.”
Bernard Harrison, Author, Blaming the Jews: Politics and Delusion (2020) and What is Fiction For? Literary Humanism Restored (2015):
“In this remarkable and deeply instructive book, a gifted woman philosopher records and criticizes her youthful attempt, as strenuously lived as it is argued, to frame a path through life capable of engaging her talents without denying or distorting her female identity. She explores to the limits of liveability a string of contemporary world-views ranging from romantic love in the French literary manner, by way of Marxist/Castroist political commitment, to a disastrous engagement with a charismatic advocate of ‘Christian Gnosticism.’ … Profoundly philosophical as her argument is, Rosenthal writes with a vigor and liveliness that owe little to the drowsy circumlocutions of much academic prose. The book is a page-turner.”
Kirkus Review:
“A young intellectual comes of age while grappling with philosophy, femininity, and her Jewish identity in this memoir. A Jewish girl raised in Manhattan with an insatiable curiosity for history and philosophy, Rosenthal won a Fulbright scholarship to Paris to study aesthetics. There, she was immersed in a world of intellectually curious expats questioning the effects of World War II, the Holocaust, and rising waves of communism. Rosenthals own inner dialogue was dominated by questions of love, marriage, and sex, however, after meeting the charming fellow foreign student Pheidias (Id never met a modern Greek, though I felt I had met many ancient ones, she thinks to herself, revealing her consistent preoccupation with the classics.) As Pheidias slowly wore down her resolve to preserve her chastity, Rosenthal cycled through Voltaire, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Simone de Beauvoir, desperate to understand her place as a woman within the context of romantic love. Her memoirs second section details her return to New York, where she began to develop her perspectives on religion and femininity as American culture shifted around her. Just as Rosenthal felt comfortable no longer believing in God, she returned to Europe. There, in London, she would meet Suzanne, an imposing American with powerful ideas whose belief in Gnostic Christianity quickly spun Rosenthals mind out of its habitat in space and time (the authors strange, almost cultlike experiences with Suzanne can read as chaotic and confusing). Rosenthals command of philosophy is dazzling; even the smallest of comments can set her off on impressive disquisitions that easily draw from centuries of thought and literature. Her work is most accessible when she assumes a more contemporary perspective on herself, contextualizing her responses within her time period and her personal history. Those willing to follow her will be rewarded with gems of intriguing insight. A challenging memoir full of thought-provoking philosophy.”- Kirkus Reviews
Juliana Geran Pilon, New English Review
In a beautifully written review, Pilon calls the book “a remarkable confession in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau” and praises Abigail’s ability “to think and love as a woman, with all that implies, for good and ill.”
Read the full review in New English Review »
Barry Cooper, Haultain Research
Cooper reflects on the philosophical and spiritual courage in Abigail’s memoir, describing it as “her account of a pilgrimage” through love, deception, and moral clarity.
Read the full review on Haultain Research »
Phyllis Chesler, New English Review
Feminist warrior Phyllis Chesler describes Confessions as “a very unique work as self-revealing as Augustine’s [Confessions]….Rosenthal’s understanding of antisemitism is unexpected–and unexpectedly profound.”
Read the full review in New English Review »
Lee Trepanier, VoegelinView:
“In this remarkable and deeply instructive book, a gifted woman philosopher records and criticizes her youthful attempt, as strenuously lived as it is argued, to frame a path through life capable of engaging her talents without denying or distorting her female identity. … Profoundly philosophical as her argument is, Rosenthal writes with a vigor and liveliness that owe little to the drowsy circumlocutions of much academic prose. The book is a page-turner.”
Read the full review in VoegelinView »
We meet with evil in the ordinary course of experience, as we try to live our life stories. It’s not a myth. It’s a mysterious but quite real phenomenon. How can we recognize it? How can we learn to resist it? Amazingly, philosophers have not been much help. Despite the claim of classical rationalists that evil is “ignorance,” evil-doers can be extremely intelligent, showing an understanding of ourselves that surpasses our own self-understanding.
What Others are Saying: Reviews
Adam Kirsch, Author, The Global Novel: Writing the World in the 21st Century (2016):
“Abigail Rosenthal proposes a new way of understanding one of the oldest mysteries–the nature of evil. Drawing on wide literary and philosophical resources, Rosenthal proposes that narrative self-understanding is the key to a good life. She traces the implications of this idea for understanding various types of evil, including the ultimate evil of Nazi genocide–which, she argues, cannot be understood in Arendtian terms as a kind of banality. Highly personal and original, Rosenthal’s work offers new ways of grappling with some of the largest ethical questions.”
William G. Lycan, Author, Real Conditionals (2001):
“Rosenthal pinpoints the characteristic feature of evil–at least the leading type of evil–that distinguishes it from what is only morally wrong or very, very bad. It is based on her basic notion of an ideal ‘life story’ or plot. She extends both concepts from individual victims to races and populations as victims. [T]here is nothing banal or ordinary about evil, the intentional disrupting of the victim’s ‘ideal thread’ or plot. … In a fascinating new essay, Rosenthal revisits Hannah Arendt . . . applying her “plot” concept to Arendt herself in light of what is known about Arendt’s long intellectual and personal relationship with Heidegger. Rosenthal argues that despite a splendid recovery from early adversity, Arendt went on to ‘spoil’ her own life story. And in a concluding piece, Rosenthal shows from her own experience how one can have reason to believe that a person’s life story has been co-authored by God.”
Phyllis Chesler, Author, An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir (2013):
“It is a most compelling and creative work. Rosenthal is analyzing the ‘stories’ that people tell us about themselves, in terms of both their lives and their work. She does so in an effort to understand genocidal evil-doers, both those who perpetrate and collaborate with it and those who cover up such crimes.”
Gale Godwin, Author, Heart: A Personal Journey Through Its Myths and Meanings (2001):
“As a person who wholeheartedly subscribes to the idea that we must be constantly attentive to, and increasingly watchful over, the ‘plots’ of our own unfolding stories, I found Abigail Rosenthal’s a welcome, revealing, and indispensable book about the slippery crevices of the moral life. I hope it is translated into many languages. Everyone should read it.”
Lee Trepanier, Editor, Lexington Book Series Politics, Literature, and Film
“According to Rosenthal, there are two main ways our stories can be derailed: you no longer see further in your own story or your story is thwarted…. The former is banality, while the latter Rosenthal labels evil.” Read the full review.
Author
Abigail L. Rosenthal
Pulitzer-nominated author of A Good Look at Evil, Professor of Philosophy Emerita at Brooklyn College, CUNY, and author of a weekly blog at: dearabbie-nonadvice.com
