American Philosophy: A Love Story

"Philosopher John Kaag hits the sweet spot between intellectual history and personal memoir in this chronicle of how a neglected library of philosophical treasures hidden deep in the New Hampshire woods rescued him from despair. When Harvard philosophy professor William Ernest Hocking died in 1966, he left a library that had become the repository for the personal libraries of many of his famous colleagues — a collection that included first editions of René Descartes, John Locke and Immanuel Kant, as well as countless volumes bearing their original owners’ marginalia. Over the three years Kaag spends excitedly excavating and cataloguing the books, he finds heartening answers to William James’ question, “Is life worth living?” — and a soulmate with whom to share his discoveries."