The work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has reverberated through two and a half centuries, altering the course of literature in ways both grand and intimate. No other writer so completely captivated the intellectual life of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, putting into language the anxieties and ambitions of a civilization on the cusp of modernity. A literary celebrity by the age of twenty-five, Goethe, who was born in Frankfurt in 1749, attracted the adulation and respect of the greatest scientists, politicians, composers, and philosophers of his day. Schoolboys dressed like his fictional characters. Napoleon read his first novel obsessively. He was an astoundingly prolific writer, a master of many genres, from poetry to scientific treatises, from novels like the tragic Sorrows of Young Werther to dramatic works like Faust. Indeed, Goethe's unparalleled literary output would come to define the Romantic age.Rüdiger Safranski's Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is the first definitive biography in a generation to tell the larger-than-life story of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Drawing upon the trove of letters, diaries, and notebooks Goethe left behind, as well as correspondence and criticism from Goethe's contemporaries, Safranski weaves a rich tale of Europe in the throes of revolution and of the man whose ideas heralded a new era.Safranski's monumental biography is a careful survey of Goethe's wide-ranging genius. Beyond his incredible literary gifts, Goethe was intensely interested in natural science and took seriously his official post as a statesman, working tirelessly to ensure that the working poor received wages and daily bread. With grace and nuance, Safranski crafts a portrait of Goethe's inner life that illuminates both his written work and the turmoil and triumphs of his era. Safranski shows that reading Goethe affords not simply an encounter with a literary virtuoso but an opportunity to develop a deeper appreciation of the human condition.Goethe was writing in the midst of a dramatic and bloody time for Europe: the revolutions in France and America overturned the old regimes and introduced new ways of thinking about the world. Set against this backdrop, Goethe's life and work serve as an essential touchstone for the birth of the modern age. But as Safranski ultimately shows, Goethe's greatest creation was not only his literary masterpieces but his very life.

A biography of the "German Shakespeare" draws on letters, diaries, notebooks, and correspondence to create a comprehensive picture of the writer's genius.

A masterful intellectual portrait, Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is celebrated as the seminal twenty-first-century biography of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749?1832), a remarkably prolific poet, playwright, novelist, and--as R?diger Safranksi emphasizes--a statesman and naturalist, first awakened not only a burgeoning German nation but the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski has scoured Goethe's entire oeuvre, relying exclusively on primary sources, including his correspondence with contemporaries, to produce a "fresh and authentic" (Economist) portrait of the avatar of the Romantic era. Skillfully blending "artistic analysis with swift, sharp renderings" of the great political and intellectual figures Goethe encountered, "[Safranski's] portrait of the prolific genius leaves the reader with lasting awe, even envy" of a monumental legacy (The New Yorker). As Safranski ultimately shows, Goethe's greatest creation, even in comparison to his masterpiece Faust, was his own life.

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Selection Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Economist and Kirkus ReviewsThis "splendid biography" (Wall Street Journal) of Goethe presents his life and work as an essential touchstone for the modern age.

Rüdiger Safranski approaches the last universal genius from primary sources - works, letters, diaries, interviews, records of contemporaries. Thus Goethe is unusually alive.

This sterling biography of Germany's greatest writer presents Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as if we are seeing him for the first time. The work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has reverberated through two and a half centuries, altering the course of literature in ways both grand and intimate. No other writer so completely captivated the intellectual life of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, putting into language the anxieties and ambitions of a civilization on the cusp of modernity. A literary celebrity by the age of twenty-five, Goethe, who was born in Frankfurt in 1749, attracted the adulation and respect of the greatest scientists, politicians, composers, and philosophers of his day. Schoolboys dressed like his fictional characters. Napoleon read his first novel obsessively. He was an astoundingly prolific writer, a master of many genres, from poetry to scientific treatises, from novels like the tragic Sorrows of Young Werther to dramatic works like Faust. Indeed, Go...

This sterling biography of Germany's greatest writer presents Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as if we are seeing him for the first time. The work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe has reverberated through two and a half centuries, altering the course of literature in ways both grand and intimate. This is celebrated as the seminal twenty-first-century biography of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), a remarkably prolific poet, playwright, novelist, and a statesman and naturalist, first awakened not only a burgeoning German nation but the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski has scoured Goethe's entire oeuvre, relying exclusively on primary sources, including his correspondence with contemporaries, to produce a (3z(Bfresh and authentic.

Here, Rudiger Safranski sets his sights on the writer considered the Shakespeare of German literature. Goethe (1749-1832) awakened a burgeoning German nation and the European continent with his electrifying novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Safranski scoured Goethe's oeuvre, relying on primary sources as well as his correspondence with contemporaries and their comments to one another, to produce an illuminating portrait of the avatar of the Romantic era. Set against the cultural and political turmoil of Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Goethe, who intersected with almost every great figure of his age, is thrillingly re-created here. As Safranski shows, Goethe's greatest creation, even in comparison to his masterpiece Faust, was his own life.

Rüdiger Safranski's Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is the first definitive biography in a generation to tell the larger-than-life story of a writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Drawing upon the trove of letters, diaries, and notebooks Goethe left behind, as well as correspondence and criticism from Goethe's contemporaries, Safranski weaves a rich tale of Europe in the throes of revolution and of the man whose ideas heralded a new era.

This is a biography of the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who captivated the intellectual life of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, putting into language the anxieties and ambitions of a civilization on the cusp of modernity. A literary celebrity by the age of twenty-five, Goethe, who was born in Frankfurt in 1749, attracted the respect of scientists, politicians, composers, and philosophers of his day. He was a prolific writer, a master of many genres, from poetry to scientific treatises, from novels like the tragic Sorrows of Young Werther to dramatic works like Faust. Indeed, Goethe's unparalleled literary output would come to define the Romantic age. This biography describes Europe in the throes of revolution and the man whose ideas heralded a new era. Beyond his literary gifts, Goethe was interested in natural science and took seriously his official post as a statesman, working to ensure that the working poor received wages and daily bread. -- Publisher's description.

"Das Buch über Goethe ist der 'Mount Everest' von Rüdiger Safranskis biografischem Schreiben ... Er stützt sich darin ganz auf Primärquellen, auf Werke, Briefe, Tagebücher, Gespräche. Die Chronologie gibt die Struktur, in Zwischenbetrachtungen fasst er zusammen. Literarische Werke verfassen ist das eine ..., aber die noch größere Herausforderung ist, das Leben - als Kunstwerk - zu gestalten ... Auffällig sind die Zäsuren in Goethes Leben: 1774 der Aufbruch nach Weimar und 1786 der nach Italien. Goethe war immer neugierig und voller Tatendrang. Safranski ... schreibt in einem wunderbar geschmeidigen und farbigen Stil, der auch in langen Sätzen stets verständlich und erhellend bleibt. Deshalb ist dieses in den Medien fast überall gefeierte 'erzählte Leben' eines Ausnahmemenschen auch durchaus für Nicht-Spezialisten geeignet" (M. Haldenwanger zum Buch, ID-A 38/13). Nach den früheren Safranski-Hörbüchern beeindruckt diese Lesung durch das Wechselspiel des bekannten Hörbuchsprechers Frank Arnold, der die Lebensgeschichte erzählt, mit dem Autoren, der die kürzeren Zwischenbetrachtungen vorträgt. (2) (lau) Der Autor nähert sich dem Universalgenie aus den primären Quellen: Werke, Briefe, Tagebücher, Gespräche und Aufzeichnungen von Zeitgenossen. Er lässt so ein lebendiges Bild von Goethe und seiner Zeit entstehen. (lau)

Unter Schichten jahrhundertelanger Interpretationen und Mythenbildung legt Safranski einen neuen Goethe frei (Verlagstext).

Das Goethe-Buch für unsere Zeit: Rüdiger Safranski nähert sich dem letzten Universalgenie aus den primären Quellen - Werke, Briefe, Tagebücher, Gespräche, Aufzeichnungen von Zeitgenossen. So wird Goethe ungewohnt lebendig: Ein junger Mann aus gutem Hause, dem Studentenleben zugetan und dauerverliebt, wird Bestsellerautor, bekommt eine gutdotierte Stellung, dilettiert in Naturforschungen, flüchtet nach Italien, lebt in wilder Ehe - und bei alledem schreibt er seine unvergesslichen Werke. Doch er wollte noch mehr: Das Leben selbst sollte zum Kunstwerk werden. Safranskis souverän geschriebenes Buch macht uns zu Zeitgenossen dieses Menschen und schildert eindringlich, wie Goethe sich zu Goethe gemacht hat. Rüdiger Safranski, geboren 1945, ist Philosoph und vielfach preisgekrönter, in 28 Sprachen übersetzter Autor u.a. von großen Biographien über E.T.A. Hoffmann, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Schiller, von Büchern über die menschlichen Grundfragen, u.a. über das Böse und die Wahrheit, und zuletzt der vielgepriesenen Bücher über die Romantik (2007) und über die Freundschaft von Goethe und Schiller (2009).

Das Goethe-Buch für unsere Zeit: Rüdiger Safranski nähert sich dem letzten Universalgenie aus den primären Quellen Werke, Briefe, Tagebücher, Gespräche, Aufzeichnungen von Zeitgenossen. So wird Goethe ungewohnt lebendig: Ein junger Mann aus gutem Hause, dem Studentenleben zugetan und dauerverliebt, wird Bestsellerautor, bekommt eine gutdotierte Stellung, dilettiert in Naturforschungen, flüchtet nach Italien, lebt in wilder Ehe und bei alledem schreibt er seine unvergesslichen Werke. Doch er wollte noch mehr: Das Leben selbst sollte zum Kunstwerk werden. Safranskis souverän geschriebenes Buch macht uns zu Zeitgenossen dieses Menschen und schildert eindringlich, wie Goethe sich zu Goethe gemacht hat. verlagsinfo. Erscheint im August 2013