This classic collection of essays by French philosopher and essayist Clément Rosset follows another Free Association title in the same format, Werner Herzog’s travel journal, Of Walking on Ice. The publisher is dedicated to finding worthy essays and other texts that have either been out of print or were never made available in English — especially seeking out works that have remained popular, at least among a small, devoted group, over the years. This work, out of print for 20 years, is the first and only work by the Paris-based Rosset (born 1939) to be translated into English. Rosset has written some 30 short books, many of which reference his important influence, Schopenhauer. “Joy is the necessary condition,” writes Rosset, “if not of life in general at least of life lived consciously and with full awareness.”

Munich — Paris 23
November — 14 December 1974

In the winter of 1974, filmmaker Werner Herzog made a three week solo journey from Munich to Paris on foot. He believed it was the only way his close friend, film historian Lotte Eisner, would survive a horrible sickness that had overtaken her. During this monumental odyssey through a seemingly endless blizzard, Herzog documented everything he saw and felt with intense sincerity. This diary is dotted with a pastiche of rants about the extreme cold and utter loneliness, notes on Herzog’s films and travels, poetic descriptions of the snowy countryside, and personal philosophizing. What is most remarkable is that the reading of the book is in continuity with the experience of watching his films; it’s as if, through this walk, we witness the process in which images are born. Although he received a literary award for it, this introspective masterpiece has lingered out of print since 1979. Beautifully designed and emotionally impressive, Of Walking in Ice is the first in a color-coded series of remarkable yet long-forgotten titles being republished by Free Association.