"I ended the week in a contemplative mode with a wise and lovely little book by Daniel Klein, author of a favorite of mine, 'Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar'. Now, he gives us 'Travels with Epicurus' (Penguin, $20), in which the author travels to Greece with a suitcase full of philosophy books. Klein had gotten some bad news from his dentist, that he has to get either a denture plate or tooth implants. Neither alternative was pleasing, so he decided to go to Greece instead. 'I have returned to this Greek island on a personal quest: I am an old man of 73 and I want to figure out the most satisfying way to live this stage of my life. And he does. And he is wise and witty. Stuff this one in Grandpa's stocking this Christmas, but read it first, and smile."

In a sense, Daniel Klein's philosophical musings began with a visit to a dentist's office. Confronted for the first time with the possibility of permanent denture plates, the veteran author (Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar; The History of Now) began contemplating the jarring inevitabilities of old age. To sooth his worries and strengthen himself with a little rest and recreation, he travels to the remote Greek island of Hydra. There, strengthened by the vitality of his friends and the wisdom of ancient and modern thinkers, he makes striking discoveries about growing old, life, death, dentures, and himself..

"Daniel Klein's philosophical musings began with a visit to a dentist's office."
-SHELF AWARENESS blog

Philosopher/humorist Daniel Klein has written about humor (Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar) and life and death (Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates). In Travels with Epicurus, he offers a thoughtful and witty meditation on old age. When Klein's dentist tells him he should choose between extensive dental work or dentures that would greatly affect what he could eat, he says hold on--then goes to the Greek island of Hydra to think it over. He takes us on a journey of this island and its people via his favorite philosophers--Aristotle, Aeschylus, Nietzsche, Sartre, even Frank Sinatra--to explore what it means to be old, to age. At 74, he wants to "figure out the most satisfying way to live this stage of my life." Klein meets the elderly Tasso, who he watches eating and drinking and conversing with his elderly friends, all of them enjoying themselves. It puts him in mind of Epicurus: "Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitute our abundance." So Klein enjoys himself as he searches, as he talks to people, eats great food, observes beautiful scenery, smokes and gradually realizes this search for a fulfilling old age is really his way of coming to terms with a genuine death. He's not just a "befuddled old geezer barking at the moon," rather, to quote Cicero: "Old age is the consummation of life." --Tom Lavoie, former publisher

"Greek Wisdom Now and Then."
-National Geographic Traveler

reek Wisdom Now and Then When I lived in Greece a year, I was inspired by the conjunction of past and present in the deep-rooted life-passion of the people I met every day and the centuries-spanning wisdom that seemed embedded in the very stones of the Acropolis and other monuments. Philosopher Daniel Klein moved to the Greek island of Hydra in search of that same conjunction. His new book of meditations on the art of living well, Travels With Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life, has richly revived for me Greece's abiding lessons in how to slow down and celebrate the passage of time."