Saturday, April 20, 2013

Steven Nadler

Steven Nadler is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. His books include Rembrandt's Jews, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza: A Life, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award; The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil, and A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age.

His new book is The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes.

Early this month I asked Nadler about what he was reading.  His reply:
I just finished reading The Vatican Diaries, by John Thavis. I've long been fascinated by and curious about what goes on in the Vatican, and in the Catholic Church generally, and Thavis (a journalist who has been covering Vatican affairs for a while) provides a real insider's view of the machinations, personalities, ceremonies, and missteps of life inside the Curia.

I also finally got a copy of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which I look forward to reading; and the latest Commissario Guido Brunetti novel by Donna Leon -- it's a terrific police procedural series set in Venice, very addictive. Also on my night-table are two recently published biographies of artists: Bernini: His Life and His Rome, by Franco Mormando; and Raphael: A Passionate Life, by Antonio Forcellino.
Visit Steven Nadler's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Best of All Possible Worlds.

The Page 99 Test: A Book Forged in Hell.

--Marshal Zeringue