At The Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell Summary

At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell explores the lives and ideas of 20th-century existentialist philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Martin Heidegger. Blending biography and intellectual history, it traces how their radical philosophies on freedom, authenticity, and human existence evolved amid personal struggles, wartime upheavals, and heated debates. Bakewell illuminates complex concepts through vivid storytelling, showing how these thinkers reshaped modern thought.

This book is ideal for readers curious about existentialism but intimidated by dense academic texts. Philosophy enthusiasts, history buffs, and fans of narrative nonfiction will appreciate Bakewell’s accessible style. It’s also recommended for those interested in how WWII-era intellectuals grappled with ethics, politics, and the human condition.

Yes—Bakewell’s engaging prose makes existentialism relatable without oversimplifying its depth. The book balances rigorous analysis with humorous anecdotes (like Sartre’s love of apricot cocktails) and critiques the philosophers’ contradictions. It’s a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016, praised for revitalizing interest in existentialist thought.

Key figures include Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus. Bakewell highlights their collaborations, rivalries, and ideological clashes, while contextualizing their work within events like the French Resistance and Cold War politics. Lesser-known thinkers like Karl Jaspers and Edmund Husserl also appear.

• Freedom and responsibility: Existentialists argue humans define themselves through choices.
• Authenticity: Rejecting societal norms to live truthfully.
• Phenomenology: Studying consciousness and lived experience.
• Ethics in crisis: Philosophizing amid war and occupation.

Bakewell connects these themes to the philosophers’ lives, such as Beauvoir’s feminist existentialism and Heidegger’s controversial Nazi ties.

She candidly examines their flaws—Sartre’s manipulative relationships, Heidegger’s fascism, and Beauvoir’s complex feminism. By linking their philosophies to their imperfections, Bakewell humanizes them, showing how existentialism isn’t about abstract ideas but lived realities.

Bakewell critiques existentialism’s individualism, its occasional nihilism, and the movement’s failure to address systemic oppression adequately. She also dissects Heidegger’s political compromises and Sartre’s later support for Stalinism, highlighting tensions between their ideals and actions.

The war forced existentialists to confront ethical extremes: Sartre and Beauvoir joined the French Resistance, while Heidegger’s Nazi affiliation tainted his legacy. Bakewell shows how occupation, collaboration, and survival intensified debates about freedom, morality, and human nature.

Bakewell avoids jargon, using anecdotes (like Sartre’s mescaline experiments) and witty prose to demystify terms like “bad faith” or “being-for-itself.” She also ties concepts to everyday dilemmas, such as finding purpose in a chaotic world.

• “Hell is other people” (Sartre): Explored as a commentary on self-perception through others’ gaze.
• “One is not born a woman, but becomes one” (Beauvoir): Central to her feminist existentialism.
• “Man is condemned to be free” (Sartre): Emphasizes the burden of self-determination.

Like How to Live (a Montaigne biography), this book blends biography and philosophy with irreverence and clarity. However, it focuses on collaborative intellectual movements rather than individual thinkers, offering a broader cultural lens.

Bakewell argues existentialism’s focus on autonomy, anxiety, and meaning resonates in modern crises like climate change and political polarization. The book encourages readers to confront uncertainty courageously—a timely message for 2025.