Promotional Information

Winner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 1990

About the Author

Ray Monk is also the author of Bertrand Russell- The Spirit of Solitude and Robert Oppenheimer- A Life Inside the Centre. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton.

Reviews

Monk's energetic enterprise is remarkable for the interweaving of the philosophical and the emotional aspects of Wittgenstein's life
*Sunday Times*

Ray Monk's reconnection of Wittengenstein's philosophy with his life triumphantly carries out the Wittengensteinian task of "changing the aspect" of Wittgenstein's work, getting us to see it in a new way
*Sunday Telegraph*

This biography transforms Wittengenstein into a human being
*Independent on Sunday*

It is much to be recommended
*Observer*

Monk's biography is deeply intelligent, generous to the ordinary reader... It is a beautiful portrait of a beautiful life
*Guardian*

The veritable flood of writings about Wittgenstein--fiction as well as nonfiction--continues unabated, and this is a worthy addition. Monk gives a more balanced account of Wittgenstein's life and personality than does Brian McGuinness ( Wittgenstein: A Life; Young Ludwig, 1889-1921, LJ 9/15/88), insofar as he deals with Wittgenstein's homosexuality and goes into considerable detail about the three main relationships in Wittgenstein's life. Monk has done a great deal of research; what emerges is a portrait of a troubled, restless, creative mind, one destined, it seems, to be forever dissatisfied. Though not the last word on Wittgenstein's life--something on the order of a ``psychobiography'' must someday be written--this book is highly recommended.-- Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, D.C.

Monk's energetic enterprise is remarkable for the interweaving of the philosophical and the emotional aspects of Wittgenstein's life * Sunday Times *
Ray Monk's reconnection of Wittengenstein's philosophy with his life triumphantly carries out the Wittengensteinian task of "changing the aspect" of Wittgenstein's work, getting us to see it in a new way * Sunday Telegraph *
This biography transforms Wittengenstein into a human being * Independent on Sunday *
It is much to be recommended * Observer *
Monk's biography is deeply intelligent, generous to the ordinary reader... It is a beautiful portrait of a beautiful life * Guardian *