I've read so much of Nietzsche and books in re Nietzsche that much of this book was a rehashing of things I'd already thought through. Higgins does offer original insights, though, and untangles snarls in Nietzsche's thought in ways that hadn't occurred to me.-The most important of these clarifications is her explanation of eternal recurrence by analogy with how we appreciate music. It's somewhat amusing to me that the book she uses to demonstrate this striking similarity, Victor Zuckerkandl's Sound and Symbol: Music and the External World, was required reading in a Music Appreciation class I was required to take as an undergraduate.-Alas, I was too interested in drinking beer then to make any sort of connection, though perhaps Nietzsche himself would have found this more "life affirming" for me at the time!-Higgins, if I read her aright, regards "eternal recurrence" more as a state of mind than as a scientific theory, though it may be both. As she puts it, "Music resists any attempts to deny its immediacy and to wed it to the past....The past and future are both connected with the awareness of the present tone, but not as specific past and future events." And, as Zuckerkandl nails it down, "Let anyone capable of it call to mind the immediately preceding tone of a melody he is hearing. The instant he does so, he will have lost the thread of the melody." Life lived at its highest level, then, is a sort of music where one lives intensely in the moment, full of what Higgins calls "the wild magic of living" while themes recur over and over again without our memory having to intrude, so to speak.-This is the best explanation of Nietzsche's eternal recurrence I have read. Previously, it was always the big sticking point for me in the book, and I dismissively (like many others) assumed this was the point where he started to go mad.-Strangely, I was reminded by Higgins' comparison of music and eternal recurrence of nothing so much as the acccount of the beginning of the world in Tolkien's The Silmarillion where life begins as different strains of music. They both lend considerable spiritual and creative heft to melody.- I only gave the book four stars because so much of the early part of the book was old hat to me. But the book as a whole is the best comprehensive introduction to Nietzsche's Zarathustra that I've read. The Menippean satire comparison she presents to explain Part IV seemed redundant to me because I've never had a problem with Part IV, though obviously many others have. This is probably due in great part due to the fact that I approach much of Nietzsche through one of his greatest disciples, the poet Yeats. And when, in Part IV, Nietzsche exhorts the higher men, "What does it matter that you are failures?...learn to laugh away over yourselves!", lines from Yeats' "To A Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing" cross my mind, "Be secret and exult. Because of all things known, that is most difficult."

In this book, Higgins does not act as your tour guide, as Alderman and Lampert do in their books, but rather is the one who has written the well thought out, beautifully illustrated catalog--the one that either makes you want to take the journey in the first place, or the one that shows you all the nice sites you might have missed along the way.

But enough metaphors... This book is a wonderfully written study of Nietzsche's ultimate literary masterpiece (which is still, to this day, my favorite book, and one that I read from almost everyday). Intelligent and penetrating, its main focus is to bring to light the all-too-often missed if not completely disregarded story-line.

The only flaw I can think of, is that the author, while her intent is good, focuses a little too much on Nietzsche's earlier works for the interpretation of a book, which Nietzsche himself said, stood by itself among his writings. It wasn't totally necessary, as their main ideas can be gleaned from the main focus of the work.

But the very strong points outweigh that single flaw. It will change your view of this book in a big way--but it will always be a good one.

This book is not funny. Higgins is not funny. Nietzsche's Joyful Wisdom is not funny. This book, as discussed in the preface, was contracted by a silly university press -- one of the silliest of them all. Then Higgins sat down to force the thing into shape. The entire thing has a constant feeling of being forced. There is nothing here that is smooth, natural or even very insightful. Higgins is constantly saying 'I think that is funny' as though her opinion could be worth anything at all. She has to think that in order to fulfill her contract. And who cares about her mental state anyway? The only proof that something is funny is that people find it funny, perhaps. But Higgins is an interested party, so her opinion is irrelevant. In fact, her opinion is worthless here, and so is her book.

Nietzsche is a "Paradigm of Playfulness" in my opinion, and Professor Higgins has done an excellent job of teasing out the entrenched humor of his Gay Science. Also, the importance of humor in philosophizing not only in Nietzsche's work but in general should be taken into consideration by those who kick their heels up on the playground of ideas. In this unprecedented work Higgins shows us the multi-faceted nature of Nietzsche's way of doing philosophy, and with this approach a new appreciation for Nietzsche's depth as a philosopher should be noted.

I found this a very frustrating book, because it could so easily have been a first-rate text. It is one of the few in print which includes both classic and contemporary essays by both philosophers and artists, and "covers" the basic topics. Unfortunately, many of the texts are cut down to such tiny snippets that major parts of the essential arguments and even some widely-quoted passages (e.g. in Plato, Bell, Bullough, Kant), are missing. On the other hand, there are long essays reprinted, with virtually no cuts, which are not only not "classic" but which strike me as quite absurd. For example, there are only 9 1/2 pages from Kant's Critique of Judgment, but 8 pages of nonsense (or, "postmodern paradoxes") about "The Fine Art of Rap." Disappointing!

This book is good for people that want to understand aesthetics in art. The book begins with plato and his thoughts of art, it moves to Hume, Nietzsche, and Kant. It has several indepths and a good analysis. It also looks at aesthetics in different societies.

Music ought to be easy to learn, a nice way to channel feelings into a form of artistic expression. Possibly music preceded speech in the development of human civilization. I couldn't find anything on bees in the index, but I'll bet a bee that has discovered something communicates its findings when it gets back to the hive by doing some kind of dance. The index of this book has some entries for Bach, beauty, and Beethoven, but a modern consciousness of how these people with great skill have managed to achieve anything in this area gets translated into such technical jargon as chord changes, chord inversion, chord progression, picking a few terms in the index that I am capable of understanding. This book is written by a college professor who usually writes about philosophy, so the index is more inclined to provide information to those who wish to research the subjective character of aesthetic experience. I was more interested in the moral danger of music, which is examined as a "dilemma" on pages 6-8, 191-94, and 200. I would not expect this book to ruin your life, but I can't force you to read it. People who need to look up the favorite drinking song of Immanuel Kant ought to buy this book. Higgins makes much of the modern world seem less enlightened than Kant when she observes, "Kant's acceptance of instrumental music as legitimate music is thus a progressive view for his time." (p. 64) However, "while admitting that 'agreeable' music of minimal content exists, Kant judges it harshly." (p. 65) An aspect of books that I have not previously discussed in reviews is name-dropping. This book asks, "What about Scott Joplin ~ or Janis Joplin?" (p. 101)

Robert Solomon has always been my favorite secondary source on philosophy. His works such as From Rationalism to Existentialism and Continental Philosophy since 1750: The Rise and Fall of the Self are excellent and helped me gain a solid understanding of many concepts and relations between philosophical movements. What Nietzsche Really Said is not on par with these works, but is still engaging as a lighter read. Many Nietzschean scholars will despise Solomon for taking the danger out of Nietzsche, but I think that is necessary for this work. I view this work as an attempt to clarify and make Nietzsche accessible to the uninitiated and I think it succeeds nicely. I would not recommend simply adhering to this book alone as a source of Nietzschean knowledge, but would recommend it as a tool to the new student of philosophy especially; as well as anyone else who likes Nietzsche's optimism.

Few philosophers have been so widely read and yet so incredibly misunderstood as Friedrich Nietzsche. Many people have used Nietzsche's words to advance their own agendas. Hitler was supposedly a fan even though the philosopher was a staunch opponent of anti-Semitism and would have found the Third Reich abhorrent. Many atheists twist Nietzsche's remark that "God is dead" into an endorsement of nihilism when in truth, the German's writings are full of joy and spirit. Clearly, the misinterpretation of Nietzsche's words over the past century makes a book that synthesizes his ideas an absolute necessity. This is that book. The authors have much enthusiasm for Nietzsche's writings and their feelings spill over into the reader. They begin by refuting "thirty rumors" that swirl around the postmodernist. These include accusations that Nietzsche was a misogynist, an alcoholic, and drove students to murder. They are all dismissed. Mr. Solomon and Ms. Higgins go on to explore Nietzsche's critique of other philosophers and include a list of his heroes and villains. The strongest section of the book illuminates "Nietzsche's virtues." Here, the German's "life-affirming" philosophy is explained in detail. If ever there was a man ahead of his times, it was Nietzsche. Over a century ago, he anticipated a profound crisis in morality. He recognized that the old religious institutions were losing their credibility and influence. With their decline would come the ascent of scientific materialism. This new system, however, is a poor instrument for creating morality and virtue. Nietzsche offers his students an alternative: a morality from "within;" a perspective that sees life as worth living for its own sake and cultivating a character written with "style." Nietzsche is a living voice that sees life as a joy, encouraging us to treat every moment as such. That is what Nietzsche really said.

This book is great for getting started. The book actually explains in simple terms why Nietzsche is impossible for someone with no philosophical training to read. i.e. the book explains that Nietzsche contradicts himself because he wants the reader to see the many sides of the argument and to force the reader to think for herself.

The book also tries to debunk 30 myths about Nietzsche, but this is not the key part of the book and the authors may not provide great proof when they explain away these 30 myths. But, this book is the only book I found that actually gave me (the untrained philosophy reader) the knowledge to finally begin to understand Nietzsche's books.

But the hardcore Nietzschians who criticized the book did make did make some useful criticisms that one should keep in mind (combined with the insights of this book) when reading Nietzsche's works.