Bald

“A genial exercise in public philosophy by an admittedly tonsorially challenged practitioner. . . . Ever current, Critchley closes with a meditation on Covid-19 and the anxieties it induces, which he encourages his readers to grapple with rather than self-medicate away. Along his path, he pauses to wonder whether philosophy has progressed at all over the centuries; to appreciate David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, which ‘he reportedly planned as a message to his fans from beyond the grave’; and to allow, with Pascal, that we’re weak and wretched beings but eminently improvable.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Simon Critchley is an international treasure—that rare and real philosopher who embraces Rousseau’s ‘feeling of existence,’ David Bowie’s vision of love, and Philip K. Dick’s genius with genuine wrestling and a soulful smile! He enacts the truth in skepticism and the power of compassion without paralysis or illusion.’’—Cornel West, Harvard University

“What is philosophy? An endless succession of puzzles and parables? An attempt to understand ourselves, our language, the world around us? Simon Critchley shows us that the answer is all of the above. Indeed, we might think of philosophy as the inexorable study of unanswerable questions. Bald offers an incredibly enjoyable and endlessly fascinating excursion. It’s turtles all the way down.”—Errol Morris

“Wise and funny; Critchley covers a remarkable range of topics from Plato to football, Hamlet to religion, Dostoevsky to God. A book to immerse yourself in, or dip in and savour.”—David Edmonds, author of The Murder of Professor Schlick

“Mixing profundity with irony and sometimes hilarity, these essays are invariably well written and intelligently observed; bald and bold.”—Richard Kearney, Boston College