Tete-A-Tete: The Tumultuous Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre

by Hazel Rowley

Book Overview

"Enthralling . . . Here we find an ugly, walleyed existentialist philosopher, the elegantly beautiful author of The Second Sex and the Gallic equivalent of a bevy of young starlets who share the bed of one or the other--or sometimes both. Readers will turn these pages alternately mesmerized and appalled." -- Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

Passionate, freethinking existentialist philosopher-writers Simone de Beauvoir...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060520604
• ISBN13: 9780060520601
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

compelling.....addicting.... scandalous

I loved the story line and the philosophical questions confronted in this work that certainly changed my view on traditional relationships and the significance of marriage.

A love storie

between two of the most famouse philosopher of our time; Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. A must read! Roda Lerpold

Simone and Sartre

All I can say about this book is that is was so hard to put it down ! It made you feel as if you were European sitting alongside Sartre and "The Beaver" sharing your most secret thoughts and being open minded sitting in your favorite cafe in Paris! You really do open your mind after reading this book ................it is something everyone should read. I will say that you must be a little open minded to even begin reading this because of some of the content but it lets you in on their most personal lives.

Success despite erotomania

De Beauvoir and Sartre, without any doubt, are among the most talented writers of the twentieth century. I have enjoyed de Beauvoir's novels over the years, even when I could never quite get connected with the turgid texts of Sartre; and Sartre could be a perfect idiot on matters political, while de Beauvoir always retained more than her share of good sense. But no matter. Both of these "intellectuals," as they are called in this book, wrote thoughtful books that deeply affected the thinking of the last century. Now comes a book that conclusively shows one of this duo to have been, well, a sick character. A technical term might be erotomania, the insatiable drive for sexual gratification. Even when Sartre was close to death, blind, incontinent, suffering from dementia, his friends would provide him with young women that he would then proceed to grope. It was the culmination of a lifetime's obsession. Hazel Rowley, in this scrupulously documented study, has shown us a deeply flawed human being achieve success, despite these considerable odds, at being outstandingly creative.

Fabulous

I enjoyed this book because all of the information are from the actual letters written by Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. This book provides a real glimpse into the private person of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.