How to Be You
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  • Published: 14 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529106466
  • Imprint: Ebury Press
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $59.99

How to Be You

Simone de Beauvoir and the art of authentic living

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
16 Aug 2022
EBook
14 Jul 2022
Audiobook
14 Jul 2022
Hardback
14 Aug 2022
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An inspiring guide to authentic living according to the philosophy of the groundbreaking philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, by leading US philosophy professor Skye Cleary

'Skye Cleary blends Simone de Beauvoir's wisdom with her own in this lively guide to becoming a poet of your life' Nigel Warburton

'It isn't easy to be authentic. Skye Cleary's How to Be You is the guide you need if you are serious about figuring out how to live a life truly worth living. And why wouldn't you?' Massimo Pigliucci, author of How to Be a Stoic
'A glorious achievement' Irish Independent

'Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.'

So said Simone de Beauvoir, one of the world's most influential philosophers, whose pioneering work asks how we can live our most fulfilling lives and be our most vibrant selves. But in the age of so-called authenticity, what does her philosophy offer us today? In this galvanising tour of her defiant strategies for living, we explore how de Beauvoir can teach us to free ourselves of fears and stereotypes and live in a way that is truly authentic to our desires and beliefs.

At home, at work, in love, families and friendship, Skye Cleary shows us how de Beauvoir's philosophy can help us become more attuned to living purposefully, thoughtfully, and with a little more rebellious spirit. An authentic life is the goal but, warning: happiness may be a side effect.
  • Published: 14 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529106466
  • Imprint: Ebury Press
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $59.99
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About the author

Skye Cleary

Dr Skye Cleary is a philosopher and the author who teaches and Columbia and Barnard on the philosophy of love and sex as well as the philosophy of leadership and management. She is author of Existentialism and Romantic Love (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) and co-editor, with Massimo Pigliucci and Daniel Kaufman, of How to Live a Good Life (forthcoming, Vintage, 2020). She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Blog of theAmerican Philosophical Association and a certified fellow with the American Philosophical Practitioners’ Association. Cleary authored the script for the TED-Ed animation ‘Why We Love: A Philosophical Inquiry.’ It has had over 2.5 million views. She is also the winner of the New Philosopher Magazine Writers’ Award.

Praise for How to Be You

Balanced with elements of critique, Skye Cleary delivers Simone de Beauvoir's views on authenticity with matchless clarity. In this elegantly written text, abstract ideas are embodied with compelling stories from either or both Beauvoir's life or that of the author. This coupling of the ethereal and earthly injects How to Be Authentic with a delightful resonance of authenticity that helps to bring home Beauvoir's bounty of existential wisdom.

Gordon Marino, author of The Existentialist’s Survival Guide

How To Be You is a thrilling invitation to reconsider all our ways of seeing and being - how to parent, how to love, how to age, how to connect. It is a book like the best kind of conversation. We are in the company of not just one brilliant woman, but two. Skye Cleary is a wonderful guide to de Beauvoir's work, while also bringing her own wisdom to our present moment. Fascinating. Necessary.

Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure For Sleep

A how-to handbook for today's crazy times with philosophy past and present...a glorious achievement

Irish Independent