Becoming Beauvoir

Becoming Beauvoir: A Life

"The best biography of Beauvoir yet!"
"A must-read biography for anyone interested in Beauvoir's philosophy"
"She inspired women all over the world and changed the way many people think"
Highly recommended by the Financial Times, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times, Becoming Beauvoir is a definitive new biography of Beauvoir, written based on newly revealed materials such as her letters and early diaries. "A woman is not born, but made," Beauvoir said. This groundbreaking biography, drawing on previously unpublished material such as Beauvoir's diaries and letters, lifts her from Sartre's shadow and places her in the spotlight. This biography offers readers a more authentic and three-dimensional portrait of Beauvoir and a fresh perspective on the relationship between her and Sartre.
This book will also reveal many previously unknown personal details about Beauvoir, which will enhance her mystique and deepen our fascination with her. Why did this "feminist icon" work so hard to cultivate her image? Why did she frequently lie about her relationship with Sartre or claim that she was not a philosopher? Perhaps with these new details, we can gain a deeper understanding of the real Beauvoir.
【Editor's Recommendation】
★ Based on a wealth of exclusive material, including the love letters between Claude Lanzmann and Beauvoir, revealed in 2018, Beauvoir's student diary, available only in French, and an interview with Beauvoir's adopted daughter.
The author is a leading figure. Kate, a specialist in Beauvoir and Sartre at Oxford University, cites rigorous and meticulous material, providing authoritative and credible evidence of high academic value. The book is illustrated with 13 valuable photographs. Highly recommended by the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Literary Review.
Why did Beauvoir omit other men from her memoirs, giving Sartre a prominent, yet untrue, place? A secret lover? A same-sex partner? How much did Beauvoir conceal in her autobiography?
★For a long time, people mentioned Beauvoir and thought of her as just "Sartre's partner". This biography allows Beauvoir to step out from Sartre's shadow and explore her life, her works, her thoughts, and her love.
【Media Recommendation】
A book worth savoring slowly. There are so many fascinating details that one can't help but want to finish it in one go. But it's worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate this great woman who inspired women all over the world and changed the way many people think.
—The Sunday Times
In Kirkpatrick’s biography, Beauvoir is restored to her full oeuvre, her complexity and her courage revealed—not just in a single, out-of-context quote.
——Literary Review
A commendable biography that transcends the misogynistic tendencies of previous Beauvoir biographies, revealing the turbulent life and complex contradictions of this extraordinary woman.
—The Irish Examiner
Kirkpatrick gives us more space to think about Beauvoir's complex relationship to feminism, and the author also provides a rich discussion... The letters to Lanzmann are indeed an important new resource to help us understand Beauvoir... Most importantly, Kirkpatrick's biography of Beauvoir clearly shows us Beauvoir's strong moral beliefs and how she invested them in her political engagement after the war.
—The Guardian
Kirkpatrick presents us with an analysis of Beauvoir's philosophy that is more detailed and analytical than any previous biography of Beauvoir... Her strength lies in the connection between Beauvoir's logic and her life... This is the best biography of Beauvoir to date.
— Kirkpatrick of Stand magazine has painstakingly combed through Beauvoir's comments, diaries, and interviews she gave in her later years, allowing us to rediscover the rich life of this inspiring feminist, philosopher, and existentialist. This biography will make a new wave of readers fall in love with Beauvoir—politically conscious feminists like her are few and far between today, and we need them more than ever.
—Samera Harris, SA Weekly "This biography is so important because it offers readers a radical, powerful, and necessary new, evidence-based interpretation of Simone de Beauvoir's life and work. This scholarly and excellent biography is so compelling that it will linger in the reader's mind for a long time."
—Susanna Lipscomb, Professor of History, University of Roehampton, UK Do we need another biography of Beauvoir? Of course! This one finally focuses on her philosophy, rather than her emotional life. Drawing on newly discovered material, Kate Kirkpatrick offers a respectful, compassionate, and insightful reexamination of Beauvoir's life, and how it was guided by her own existentialist thinking and constrained by her circumstances. This remarkable biography couldn't be more timely!
—Tove Petersen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo, Norway, and President of the International Society of Simone de Beauvoir. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Kirkpatrick draws on new material to uncover inconsistencies in previous biographies of Beauvoir, including contradictions borne out by Beauvoir herself. Becoming Beauvoir is a must-read for anyone interested not only in Beauvoir's life but also in her philosophy.
—Fiona Vera-Gray, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Durham University, UK

2021-03-01

中信出版社

CITIC Unbounded

530

9787521723427