How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (2010)

Bakewell, Sarah. How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer. Other Press, 2010.

I cannot think of a better book about Montaigne for any audience, whether curious grazer or Montaigne scholar. This ranks up there with translator Donald Frame's book Montaigne's Discovery of Man: The Humanization of a Humanist (in terms of quality of experience). Bakewell uses the very form that Montaigne pioneered, the essay, to do three things at once: (1) present an engaging biography of the Renaissance humanist; (2) give an overview of his massive compendium; and (3) use the Essais to answer the big question of how to live. Just as Montaigne does, Bakewell leans heavily on the anecdotal, but supplements it all with deft scholarship. The result is nothing short of a soaring success. For anyone at all remotely interested in Montaigne, there is no better place to begin. I dare say an unabridged edition of the Essais will make its way to your bedside table if you encounter this rare treat of a book.