Stranger from Abroad: Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger, Friendship and Forgiveness

Hannah Arendt, his brilliant, beautiful student and young lover, sought to enable a decent society of human beings in relation to one other. She was courageous in the time of crisis. Years later, she was even able to meet Heidegger once again on common ground and to find in his past behavior an insight into Nazism that would influence her reflections on "the banality of evil"--a concept that remains bitterly controversial and profoundly influential to this day.

But how could Arendt have renewed her friendship with Heidegger? And how has this relationship affected her reputation as a cultural critic? In Stranger from Abroad, Daniel Maier-Katkin offers a compassionate portrait that provides much-needed insight into this relationship.

Maier-Katkin creates a detailed and riveting portrait of Arendt's rich intellectual and emotional life, shedding light on the unique bond she shared with her second husband, Heinrich Bl cher, and on her friendships with Mary McCarthy, W. H. Auden, Karl Jaspers, and Randall Jarrell--all fascinating figures in their own right. An elegant, accessible introduction to Arendt's life and work, Stranger from Abroad makes a powerful and hopeful case for the lasting relevance of Arendt's thought.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 03/01/2010
ISBN: 9780393068337
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.48h x 6.36w x 1.23d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 12/14/2009 pg. 52
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2009
Library Journal 02/01/2010 pg. 66
Booklist 02/01/2010 pg. 11
New York Times Book Review 05/09/2010 pg. 1
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2010 pg. 3