0
    • Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image Look inside

    Committed Writings

    Author Albert Camus
    Look inside
    Paperback
    $17.00 US
    Knopf | Vintage
    5.23"W x 7.94"H x 0.45"D  
    On sale Aug 04, 2020 | 160 Pages | 9780525567196
    Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    See Additional Formats
    This collection includes Albert Camus’s most influential and enduring political writings, reorganized and recontextualized, with a foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan.

    Perhaps the most important philosopher of the twentieth century, Albert Camus (1913–1960), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is more relevant today than ever before. Committed Writing brings together, for the first time, thematically-linked essays from across Camus’s writing career that reflect the scope of his political preoccupations. Featuring a foreword by acclaimed Camus scholar Alice Kaplan (author of Looking for the Stranger), this volume will introduce a new generation of readers to this cultural icon.
     
    “A focused collection of the political and moral writings and speeches by the Nobel laureate. After a fresh foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan, the compilation begins with four letters Camus published during World War II. . . . The longest piece is “Reflections on the Guillotine” (1957), which describes and condemns capital punishment, employing logic, passion, grim detail, and skillful prose. . . . In the first [Nobel Speech], Camus is humble and grateful and talks passionately about the significance of his art in his life. The second explores the idea of realism in literature—and how absolute realism is impossible. . . . The author ends by saying that truth should be the aim of the artist. Throughout, Camus’ talent, humor, and passion glisten like rare jewels.” —Kirkus Reviews 
    ALBERT CAMUS was born in Algeria in 1913. He spent the early years of his life in North Africa, where he became a journalist. During World War II, he was one of the leading writers of the French Resistance and an editor of Combat, an underground newspaper he helped found. His fiction, including The Stranger, The Plague, The Fall, and Exile and the Kingdom; his philosophical essays The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel and his plays The Just Assassins, The Misunderstanding, and Caligula have assured his preeminent position in modern literature and philosophy. In 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident. View titles by Albert Camus
    "A focused collection of the political and moral writings and speeches by the Nobel laureate. After a fresh foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan, the compilation begins with four letters Camus published during World War II . . . The longest piece is “Reflections on the Guillotine” (1957), which describes and condemns capital punishment, employing logic, passion, grim detail, and skillful prose . . . In the first [Nobel Speech], Camus is humble and grateful and talks passionately about the significance of his art in his life. The second explores the idea of realism in literature—and how absolute realism is impossible . . . The author ends by saying that truth should be the aim of the artist. Throughout, Camus’ talent, humor, and passion glisten like rare jewels." —Kirkus Reviews 

    About

    This collection includes Albert Camus’s most influential and enduring political writings, reorganized and recontextualized, with a foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan.

    Perhaps the most important philosopher of the twentieth century, Albert Camus (1913–1960), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is more relevant today than ever before. Committed Writing brings together, for the first time, thematically-linked essays from across Camus’s writing career that reflect the scope of his political preoccupations. Featuring a foreword by acclaimed Camus scholar Alice Kaplan (author of Looking for the Stranger), this volume will introduce a new generation of readers to this cultural icon.
     
    “A focused collection of the political and moral writings and speeches by the Nobel laureate. After a fresh foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan, the compilation begins with four letters Camus published during World War II. . . . The longest piece is “Reflections on the Guillotine” (1957), which describes and condemns capital punishment, employing logic, passion, grim detail, and skillful prose. . . . In the first [Nobel Speech], Camus is humble and grateful and talks passionately about the significance of his art in his life. The second explores the idea of realism in literature—and how absolute realism is impossible. . . . The author ends by saying that truth should be the aim of the artist. Throughout, Camus’ talent, humor, and passion glisten like rare jewels.” —Kirkus Reviews 

    Author

    ALBERT CAMUS was born in Algeria in 1913. He spent the early years of his life in North Africa, where he became a journalist. During World War II, he was one of the leading writers of the French Resistance and an editor of Combat, an underground newspaper he helped found. His fiction, including The Stranger, The Plague, The Fall, and Exile and the Kingdom; his philosophical essays The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel and his plays The Just Assassins, The Misunderstanding, and Caligula have assured his preeminent position in modern literature and philosophy. In 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident. View titles by Albert Camus

    Praise

    "A focused collection of the political and moral writings and speeches by the Nobel laureate. After a fresh foreword by Camus scholar Alice Kaplan, the compilation begins with four letters Camus published during World War II . . . The longest piece is “Reflections on the Guillotine” (1957), which describes and condemns capital punishment, employing logic, passion, grim detail, and skillful prose . . . In the first [Nobel Speech], Camus is humble and grateful and talks passionately about the significance of his art in his life. The second explores the idea of realism in literature—and how absolute realism is impossible . . . The author ends by saying that truth should be the aim of the artist. Throughout, Camus’ talent, humor, and passion glisten like rare jewels." —Kirkus Reviews 

    Additional formats

    Other Books by this Author

    Related Articles

    Penguin Random House Secondary Education

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)