“An instant classic….an intellectual feast and an existential feat!” —Cornel West “By intertwining autobiography and conceptual critique, Geuss underlines the idea that in order to gain a critical perspective on liberalism, it is necessary to become almost bilingual: able to speak the language of liberalism while also becoming fluent in the vocabulary of its critique.” —Times Literary Supplement “Fascinating…deserves to be a classic. It is at once relatable and profound, humane and auspicious. In his best moments, Geuss offers his own life as a challenge to readers to think differently and more imaginatively.”—Matt McManus, Jacobin “[Geuss’s] broad, skeptical account of human powers and interests that is aimed at challenging the hubris of abstract theorizers, is compelling. His account of the unusual formation of his own intellectual and political sensibility is both moving and illuminating.”—Richard Eldridge, Los Angeles Review of Books Liberalism is so amorphous and pervasive that