Love, Life, Goethe

the long version

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is often remembered only as a figure of literary genius -- author of The Sorrows of Young Werther and Faust but someone with no special relevance to the way we live today. Yet Goethe was driven by much more than the desire for literary success: he wanted to live life fully and well. In Love, Life, Goethe, John Armstrong tells the dramatic life story of this great poet -- a representative man akin to Wordsworth in England or Emerson in America. In so doing, Armstrong subtly and imaginatively explores the ways that we can learn from Goethe -- about love, art, friendship, and family. At the center of Goethe's project was his inquiry into the human yearning for happiness: In an imperfect world, how can we live well with what we have, and accept what we haven't? From our careers and families to our attitudes toward money, art and politics, Armstrong explores the main themes of modern human existence through the life of Goethe, and helps us learn how to understand them better ourselves. - Jacket flap.