Ludwig Wittgenstein is generally considered as the greatest philosopher since Immanuel Kant, and his personal life, work, and his historical moment intertwined in a fascinating, complex web. Noted scholar Edward Kanterian explores these intersections in Ludwig Wittgenstein, the newest title in the acclaimed Critical Lives series.

Wittgenstein's works--from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to the posthumously published Philosophical Investigations---are notoriously dense, and Kanterian carefully distills them here, proposing thought-provoking new interpretations....

Along with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs (1914 97) is an iconic figure of the Beat generation. In William S. Burroughs, Phil Baker investigates this cult writer s life and work from small-town Kansas to New York in the 40s, Mexico and the South American jungle, to Tangier and the writing of Naked Lunch, to Paris and the Beat Hotel, and 60s London alongside Burrough s self-portrayal as an explorer of inner space, reporting back from the frontiers of experience.

After accidentally shooting his wife in 1951, Burroughs felt his destiny as a writer...

Acknowledged as one of the major sculptors and avant-garde artists of the twentieth century, Constantin Brancusi (1876 1957) was also one of the most elusive, despite his fame. His mysterious nature was not only due to his upbringing in Romania which, at the time, was still regarded by much of Europe as a backward country haunted by vampires and werewolves but also because Brancusi was aware that myth and an aura of otherness appealed to the public. His self-mythology remained intact until the publication of Brancusi in 1986 by Romanian artists Alexandre Istrati and Natalia...

French composer Claude Debussy (1862 1918) created music that was revolutionary, with a distinctly modern sound that highlighted the intersection of art and life. Here, in this unique biography, David J. Code explores the important moments in the development of Debussy s literary interests that shaped his music and in the process brings to life Debussy s sardonic personality.

Claude Debussy presents an in-depth look at how Debussy s love for poetry influenced his musical compositions. Code explores both Debussy s earlier years, filled with student cantatas inspired by...

Best known for his contribution to the development of the motion picture, Eadweard Muybridge (1830 1904) was a pioneering photographer during his lifetime. Alongside his remarkable photographic achievements, his personal life was riddled with melodrama including a near-fatal stagecoach accident and a betrayal by his wife that ended with Muybridge being tried for the murder of her lover. Marta Braun s revealing biography traces the sensational events of Muybridge s life and his personal reinventions as artist, photographer, researcher, and showman.

In the 1870s, Muybridge s...