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79th out of 315 books
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Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography
by
Deirdre Bair
This definitive biography is based on five years of interviews with de Beauvoir, and is written with her full cooperation. Bair penetrates the mystique of this brilliant and often paradoxical woman, who has been called one of the great minds of the 20th century, and surely, one of the most famously unconventional figures of her generation. "As a reference work . . . S...more
Paperback, 718 pages
Published
August 15th 1991
by Touchstone
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Whew! It took months but finally finishing Deirdre Bair's biography of the inimitable Simone de Beauvoir gave me a great feeling of satisfaction. I enjoy biography as a very focused and constructed means to gaining knowledge of a wide scope of culture and history; now I'm a great deal more familiar with early 20th-century France as well as the life of Jean Paul Sartre and even Nelson Algren. Biggest revelation: Simone de Beauvoir had no fashion sense. Her iconic turban came about because she did...more
What a whirlwind! Not my usual genre but fascinating look at an unusual woman--brilliant, radical, unfettered and yet bound, open and yet closed emotionally and intellectually. Great portrayal of a complex personality.
Carla
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very interesting woman. i just love the french culture and reading about their customs etc.
i've read this book a few times but it's really big. it's a really great look into a life that's so cast in the shadows of jean paul sartre. the book gets real about her relationship with sartre (like how sartre never gave her an orgasm). it starts from the beginning.... and by beginning i mean her grandparents and ends with her death.
An absolutely amazing, sad and at times tiring read. I have a number of French friends and simply wanted to know more about this particular individual. Well written, it kept my interest even when there weren't interesting things going on.
I don't remember the month that I read this. It was cold and I must have been bored. This book is huge and exhausting. But it REALLY helps you understand Simone de Beauvoir and modernity better. Do we really need to? I dunno.
A fascinating read about this dynamic women. Though dry at times, Simone's life more than makes up for the slow sections.
She's an amazing woman. Inspiring, intellectually and emotionally. I'm determined to read everything she's ever written now.
awesome background material on sartre's drug habits. got my copy at the strand. boy was sartre a wanker. slash hot.
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Deirdre Bair won the National Book Award for Samuel Beckett: A Biography. Her biographies of Simone de Beauvoir and Carl Jung were finalists for The Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Bairs biographies of Anais Nin and Simone de Beauvoir were chosen by The New York Times as "Best Books of the Year," and her biography of Jung won the Gradiva Award from the National Association for the Advance...more
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