The Unbearable Frenchness of Being: Albert Camus's Expensive Depression for Beginners
Finally, a philosophy book that admits what we're all thinking: Camus was basically a very attractive man who turned “nothing matters” into a career.
Ever wondered why your college roommate won't shut up about The Stranger? Curious about why French intellectuals spent the 1950s chain-smoking and arguing about whether you should kill yourself? Want to sound smart at dinner parties without actually reading 800 pages of dense existential philosophy?
Welcome to the only Camus guide you'll ever need and the only one honest enough to admit that “imagine Sisyphus happy” is either profound wisdom or the philosophical equivalent of “good vibes only.”
Inside, you'll discover:
Why Meursault shooting someone because the sun was too bright is apparently literature
How Camus wrote 300 pages about plague and somehow made mass death boring
The most pretentious friendship breakup in philosophy history (Camus vs. Sartre: now with 100% more formal French pronouns)
Why the Mediterranean is the answer to existential dread (spoiler: it's not, but the beaches are nice)
How to be an absurd hero in four easy steps (Step 3: Feel superior to everyone who hasn't read Camus)
The philosophical question of whether you should kill yourself (fun guy at parties!)
Perfect for:
Philosophy students who need to understand Camus but can't stay awake through the actual texts
Former philosophy students still traumatized by Being and Nothingness
Anyone who's ever pretended to have read The Stranger in its entirety
People who enjoy their existential crises with a side of sarcasm
Readers who think “nothing matters” but still want to feel intellectually superior about it
This isn't your professor's philosophy textbook. This is Camus for people who suspect that “the absurd” is just a fancy French way of saying “life is weird and then you die.” It's irreverent, hilarious, and despite itself genuinely insightful about a philosopher who made hopelessness look chic.
One must imagine the reader entertained.
Cigarettes and existential dread not included. Mediterranean access recommended but not required.