The Wreckage of Philosophy

A decisive contribution to the study of Carlo Michelstaedter, Italian writer and philosopher.

Mimmo Cangiano is an assistant professor in the Department of Romance and Latin American Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"Offering a brilliant and original reading of Michelstaedter’s philosophy, Mimmo Cangiano has written the first book to do so in English since 1992. By providing a detailed interpretation of Michelstaedter’s work in English, Cangiano makes this challenging philosopher accessible to an English-speaking audience, while also offering his own powerfully original reading and engagement with the philosopher. Rather than entering into Michelstaedter’s corpus through his poetry or painting, as much recent scholarship has done, Cangiano undertakes the challenging task of reading the philosophy itself, putting Michelstaedter’s thought back on the table."

Valerio Cappozzo, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages, University of Mississippi:

"The Wreckage of Philosophy constitutes a valuable tool for students and faculty specializing in history of philosophy, nineteenth-century German philosophy, for instance Nietzsche and Hegel, as well as modernist thought, and the historical context of Italy in the beginning of the twentieth century."

Thomas Harrison, Professor, Department of Italian, University of California, Los Angeles:

"Mimmo Cangiano is extremely well versed in the relevant critical material, especially in the theoretical and literary works of Michelstaedter’s time, which he invokes and marshals to build this original interpretation."