Paris near the turn of 1932-3. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the
Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre Simone de Beauvoir and their
friend Raymond Aron who opens their eyes to a radical new way of thinking..."It's not often
that you miss your bus stop because you're so engrossed in reading a book about existentialism
but I did exactly that...The story of Sartre Beauvoir Camus Heidegger et al is strange fun
and compelling reading. If it doesn't win awards I will eat my copy". (Independent on Sunday).
"Bakewell shows how fascinating were some of the existentialists' ideas and how fascinating
often frightful were their lives. Vivid humorous anecdotes are interwoven with a lucid and
unpatronising exposition of their complex philosophy...Tender incisive and fair". (Daily
Telegraph). "Quirky funny clear and passionate...Few writers are as good as Bakewell at
explaining complicated ideas in a way that makes them easy to understand". (Mail on Sunday).
