- Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 15 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226758591
- ISBN-13: 978-0226758596
- Product Dimensions: 2.2 x 1.5 x 0.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 699 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#898,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #91 in Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Movements > Pragmatism
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
He was born before the Civil War, but Linda Simon's lively biography Genuine Reality depicts William James (1842-1910) as a decidedly contemporary thinker. A pioneering psychologist and unorthodox philosopher, he rejected rigid systems in favor of a flexible, relativist approach that stressed the fluid nature of identity and physical reality. His students at Harvard (Gertrude Stein, for one) found this immensely liberating, as did James himself. One of the book's many virtues is Simon's sensitive analysis of how his ideas rescued him from years of spiritual confusion and the smothering embrace of a neurotic family.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Although many studies on William James (1842-1910) include biographical information, this work is only the second full-scale biography (after Gay Wilson Allen's William James: A Biography, LJ 5/1/67). James's life experiences, interests, and accomplishments were so varied, wide-ranging, and encompassing that another major biography is certainly warranted. Both books cover well the principal events and relationships in James's life?his early European travel; influential father; wife, siblings, and friends; breakdown and recovery; physical and emotional vulnerability; career indecision; role as teacher; and work in, and contributions to, psychology and philosophy. While both biographers are clearly taken by James, Simon (English, Skidmore Coll.) is perhaps a little less hagiographic than Allen and therefore gives, perhaps, a more accurate and complete picture of his temperament and personality. For public and academic library collections.?Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Mgt. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
WONDERFUL!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Genuine Reality: A Life of William James (Hardcover)
I pride myself on being a William James buff and this biography by Linda Simon has proven to be the best, most accurate portrayal ever written. If you don't believe my review, take a look at the excellent review of the book by the New York Times. I hightly recommend this book to all those who have enjoyed Linda Simon's previous biographies, and to all those who agree William James is a man worth remembering.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Billy Boy,
By
This review is from: Genuine Reality: A Life of William James (Paperback)
Very nicely done biography, Simon seems to be a meticulous, sympathetic critic of her subjects. While I enjoyed reading about this legendary figure in American philosophy and psychology, I ended up being less impressed by him than before. Such disenchantment is probably the hallmark of reading a good biography, as it necessarily brings the mighty down to fallible human dimensions. I had always wondered what it was about the James household that produced such a noteworthy novelist and such a thoughtful philosopher--it turns out that inept dysfunction is the source of this family genius. Their father, at least through Simons's interpretation, seems a very unlikable figure--a passive-aggressive tyrant who would constantly move his family from place to place rather than have them come to develop roots and mentors beyond his control. Sadly, this tactic generated in his family a doubt of self that could lead to such insights as those his two most prominent boys seemed to understand in all its nuances. While we may appreciate their hard-won insights, it doesn't seem any fun to have suffered through them as each of his children did for all their lives. The book provides a complex look at a figure who for all his knowledge remained an embattled, unsatisfied self-critic--like all the best thinkers, I suppose.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Experience James,
By J.W.K (Nagano, Japan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Genuine Reality: A Life of William James (Hardcover)
Of all the James biographies, I enjoyed this one the best. As a female English teacher, Simon has a triple advantage in understanding and conveying Jame's life as it might have been. For starters, her writing skills are simply amazing. The book was very clear and enjoyable to read. Secondly, Simon provides us with a portrait of James we rarely see: that is, James as husband and father. In the past, the role Jame's wife and sister played in the formation of his character and thought passed by completely unnoticed, or was ignored. As important as those two figures were in James life, they cannot be ignored. Lastly, Simon's own experiences as a university teacher may have contributed to her portrait of James as university professor - another aspect of James often overlooked. The result of this triple-advantage is one powerful biography, unlike anything ever written about this Philosopher. More than any book, this one provides the reader with a sense of who James really was as a person, and for that I gave it 5 stars.
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