History and UtopiaFirst English edition: New york, Viking Press, A Richard Seaver Book, 1960
Translated from the French by Richard Howard
Hardcover
ISBN 0805003916
Histoire et utopie
Première édition: Paris, Gallimard, 1960
200 pages, 118 x 185 mm
Collection Les Essais (No 96)
ISBN 2070214591.
The University of Chicago Press:
Cioran, E. M. History and Utopia. Translated by Richard Howard. 126 p. 5-1/4 x 8 1998
Paper USA $14.00sp 0-226-10676-4 Spring 1998
In this book, Cioran writes of politics, of history, and of the utopian dream.
"A small masterwork . . . a stringent examination of some persistent and murky notions in human history. . . . It is best to read Cioran while sitting. The impact upon the intellect can be temporarily stunning, and motor systems may give way under the assault."—Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Houston Chronicle
"Cioran has a claim to be regarded as among the handful of original minds . . . writing today."—New York Times
"A sort of final philosopher of the Western world. [Cioran's] statements have the compression of poetry and the audacity of cosmic clowning."—Washington Post
E. M. Cioran (1911-1995) was born and educated in Romania and lived in Paris from 1937 until his death. He is the author of numerous works, including On the Heights of Despair, also available from the University of Chicago Press.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter to a Faraway Friend
Russia and the Virus of Liberty
Learning from the Tyrants
Odyssey of Rancor
Mechanism of Utopia
The Golden Age
Letter to a Faraway friend was first published in 1957 in the NRF (Nouvelle Revue Française) before being reprinted in in the 1960 book History and Utopia.
