The New York Times bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss
embarks on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps
of history's greatest thinkers and showing us how each--from Epicurus to
Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir--offers practical and spiritual lessons for
today's unsettled times.
We turn to philosophy for the same reasons we travel: to see the world
from a dif-ferent perspective, to unearth hidden beauty, and to find new
ways of being. We want to learn how to embrace wonder. Face regrets.
Sustain hope.
Eric Weiner combines his twin passions for philosophy and travel in a
globe-trotting pil-grimage that uncovers surprising life lessons from
great thinkers around the world, from Rousseau to Nietzsche, Confucius
to Simone Weil. Traveling by train (the most thoughtful mode of
transport), he journeys thousands of miles, making stops in Athens,
Delhi, Wyoming, Coney Island, Frankfurt, and points in between to
recon-nect with philosophy's original purpose: teaching us how to lead
wiser, more meaningful lives. From Socrates and ancient Athens to
Beauvoir and 20th-century Paris, Weiner's chosen philosophers and places
provide important practical and spiritual lessons as we navigate today's
chaotic times.
In a "delightful" odyssey that "will take you places intellectually and
humorously" (San Francisco Book Review), Weiner invites us to voyage
alongside him on his life-changing pursuit of wisdom and discovery as he
attempts to find answers to our most vital questions. The Socrates
Express is "full of valuable lessons...a fun, sharp book that draws
readers in with its apparent simplicity and bubble-gum philosophy
approach and gradually pulls them in deeper and deeper" (NPR).
