On the Heights of Despair

Born of a terrible insomnia--a dizzying lucidity which would turn even paradise into hell--this book presents the youthful Cioran, a self-described Nietzsche still complete with his Zarathustra, his poses, his mystical clown's tricks, a whole circus of the heights. On the Heights of Despair shows Cioran's first grappling with themes he would return to in his mature works: despair and decay, absurdity and alienation, futility and the irrationality of existence. It also presents Cioran as a connoisseur of apocalypse, a theoretician of despair, for whom writing and philosophy both share the lyrical virtues that alone lead to a metaphysical revelation. No modern writer twists the knife with Cioran's dexterity. . . . His writing . . . is informed with the bitterness of genuine compassion.--Bill Marx, Boston Phoenix The dark, existential despair of Romanian philosopher Cioran's short meditations is paradoxically bracing and life-affirming. . . . Puts him in the company of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.--Publishers Weekly, starred review This is self-pity as epigram, the sort of dyspeptic pronouncement that gets most people kicked out of bed but that has kept Mr. Cioran going for the rest of his life.--Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review