*Starred Review* Economics, philosophy, and more than 700 pages—oh my! That’s one way to view Adelman’s brilliant biography of economist-philosopher Albert O. Hirschman. But like Hirschman himself, who took a skewed and often inventive look at nearly everything, there are many ways to describe and delight in this book. It is at once an adventure, as the young Hirschman leaves his homeland, Germany, in 1933, at 17, determined to find a place for himself in the world. And what a world he moves through—Marxists, Nazis, wars and revolutions, and many emigrations and émigrés (Hirschman, taking on false identities, helped such luminaries as Max Ernst and Hannah Arendt escape a devouring Europe). Later, Hirschman, at times shunned for his economic ideas as well as how he presented them—often sans mathematical formulas—traveled throughout the world, living in many countries, observing, and writing about his observations. Adelman sensitively draws out this enlightening and heartening life, sketching in, along the way, the characters surrounding Hirschman. His wife, Sarah, was part of Hirschman’s odyssey, and Adelman portrays her as not only capable but a smart, brave, discerning, and interesting person. Hirschman’s primary field was economics, but he eschewed formulaic solutions to human problems, choosing instead aphoristic thinking and petites idées, as “small things could provide big insights” (and throughout, wordsmith Adelman perceptively and astutely serves wordsmith Hirschman). Nearly every page of this book inspires thought or admiration or fear for the outcome or exultation at the revelations. Hirschman’s ideas hew to the individual; for instance, because expected outcomes are not achieved, does this make the endeavor a failure, or can one seek instead the surprising good that came from it? A bright world of thought and viable enterprise opens before readers—including, perhaps especially, noneconomists—and it should not be missed. --Eloise Kinney Review One of BloombergBusinessweek Best Books of 2013, selected by Ollie Rehn One of Financial Times (Alphachat)s Econ Books of the Year for 2013 One of The Guardian Best Books of 2013, chosen by Malcolm Gladwell Honorable Mention for the 2013 PROSE Award in Biography & Autobiography, Association of American Publishers [A] biography worthy of the man. Adelman brilliantly and beautifully brings Hirschman to life, giving us an unforgettable portrait of one of the twentieth centurys most extraordinary intellectuals. . . . [M]agnificent.--Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker [A] hugely engaging . . . epic.--Justin Fox, New York Times Book Review [An] astonishing and moving biography. . . . Hirschmans work is more than interesting enough to justify a book (or two, or ten), but Adelmans achievement is to demonstrate, in novelistic detail, that he also lived an astounding life, full of narrow paths and ridiculously improbable twists and turns.--Cass Sunstein, New York Review of Books [A] massive, erudite biography.--Roger Lowenstein, Wall Street Journal [T]he winner [Enlightened Economist prize this year] is Jeremy Adelmans The Worldly Philosopher, a biography of Albert Hirschman. Hirschmans life story is extraordinary, and his early years make for a gripping tale. What I particularly enjoyed, though, was the portrait of an economist whose economics had a context in the realities of the countries Hirschman studied, their history and politics and culture, and in his wide reading in philosophy and other subjects. . . . A worthy winner--congratulations to Professor Adelman!--Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist This is the book I have looked forward to most all year and so far it does not disappoint.--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution Adelmans engrossing biography illustrates how Hirschmans global background, natural linguistic ability, education, and worldly experiences shaped his thoughts and enabled his thinking outside the box to arrive at original and often provocative ideas. . . . Hirschmans story will appeal to many general readers, but especially to economists.--Library Journal Worldly Philosopher will be the definitive work on Hirschman for some time. . . . If you liked Edmund de Waals The Hare with Amber Eyes, you will find Adelmans story of Hirschmans early life riveting--a book-club quality read. . . . Worldly Philosopher is a prodigious piece of research, lovingly told and immensely worthwhile for the new light it sheds on the odyssey of a writer whose small ideas add up to major insights.--Robert Kuttner, American Prospect Adelmans biography does a thorough job in shedding light not just on the academic and intellectual prowess of the great thinker, but also in informing the reader about the man whose life away from the intellectual world exhibited the same milieu of refreshing variety.--Prashanth Perumal, Mint [T]he only official biography of one of our generations most extraordinary thinkers.--City Book Review Jeremy Adelmans outstanding biography . . . should receive serious attention from prize committees when the best non-fiction works of 2013 are chosen. . . . As Adelman makes eloquently clear, Hirschman . . . was a great deal more than an economist or social scientist.--Stuart Mitchner, Princeton Magazine [I]t is thanks only to this remarkable biography by Jeremy Adelman . . . that we now have the first comprehensive view of the man and his work. Adelman writes with affection and respect and chronicles Hirschmans life through painstaking archival work, extensive interviews, and the examination of personal and professional papers. He brings the work alive by exploring the origins of Hirschmans achievements in the twists and turns of his life--a life, Adelman notes, that was a personal history of the twentieth century.. . . [T]hanks to Adelmans magisterial biography, we can see how Hirschmans social science was informed and strengthened by his deeply moral and principled politics.--Seyla Benhabib, Democracy Economics, philosophy, and more than 700 pages--oh my! Thats one way to view Adelmans brilliant biography of economist-philosopher Albert O. Hirschman (1915-2012). But like Hirschman himself, who took a skewed and often inventive look at nearly everything, there are many ways to describe and delight in this book. . . . Adelman sensitively draws out this enlightening and heartening life, sketching in, along the way, the characters surrounding Hirschman. His wife, Sarah, was part of Hirschmans odyssey, and Adelman portrays her as not only capable but a smart, brave, discerning, and interesting person. Hirschmans primary field was economics, but he eschewed formulaic solutions to human problems, choosing instead aphoristic thinking and petites idées, as small things could provide big insights (and throughout, wordsmith Adelman perceptively and astutely serves wordsmith Hirschman). Nearly every page of this book inspires thought or admiration or fear for the outcome or exultation at the revelations. . . . A bright world of thought and viable enterprise opens before readers--including, perhaps especially, noneconomists--and it should not be missed.--Eloise Kinney, Booklist Examining the life of a great intellectual living in extraordinary times, Jeremy Adelman has produced a special kind of biography. . . . Adelman beautifully captures Hirschmans intellectual temperament, not only by describing it but also by crafting a book that recapitulates it. Worldly Philosopher is a book of rhymes, in which Hirschmans writing recalls his personal experience, early and late projects betray enduring habits of mind, and Adelmans own judgment and style bear traces of his subjects. . . . Adelmans proximity to Hirschman allows him to interpret a public record that is extensive but opaque, and the resulting book is a sympathetic, internal account of a life complex enough to profit from such treatment. For anyone who knows one part of Hirschmans life, the book opens entire worlds. For anyone who has pored over his cryptic papers, Adelmans mastery of them is revelatory. Worldly Philosopher not only explains Hirschman from the inside out, it gives the reader a taste of his style as a writer: his eye for beauty, love of literature, and sheer range. . . . Worldly Philosopher is, as promised, a sweeping history of the world, and a highly personal one.--Amy C. Offner, Public Books Adelman provides a masterful biography of one of the most remarkable economists of the 20th century, Albert O. Hirschman. Any one of Hirschmans many lives would provide ample fodder for an interesting book. . . . [Worldly Philosopher] is obviously a labor of love, in which Adelman painstakingly reconstructs Hirschmans private and intellectual life.--Choice Worldly Philosopher is a major contribution to our understanding of the history of twentieth-century social science, and a sympathetic tribute to a man who struggled against personal adversity and who strove to improve the opportunities of ordinary people to live successfully in the face of massive adversity.--Bryan S. Turner, Sociological Review This is a wonderful book about a superb political economist. Adelman invested many years in this admiring biography, which allows readers to fully appreciate the diversity of Albert Hirschmans many contributions to economic scholarship. . . . Hirschman possessed a unique ability to shift from the particular to the general and projected an implicit optimism about humanitys prospects.--Albert Fishlow, Foreign Affairs Adelmans richly detailed and highly readable biography provides a valuable introduction to the life and work of a scholar who was unmoved by the proclivity of economists and other social scientists to draw sweeping conclusions from simplified assumptions.--Michael McPherson, Journal of Economic Literature This is the first major account of Hirschmans remarkable life, and a tale of the twentieth century as seen through the story of an astute and passionate observer. Adelmans riveting narrative traces how Hirschmans personal experiences shaped his unique intellectual perspective, and how his enduring legacy is one of hope, open-mindedness, and practical idealism.--World Book Industry
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 02:25:49 +0000