Walking the Tightrope

In January 1882, as we now know, the weather was beautiful in Genoa. Fritz, always so psychosomatically affected by atmospheric conditions, felt jubilant. He had developed his version of eternal recurrence of the same just a few months before but had not yet fully comprehended his intent. His philosophy was taking on a wider view with more expansive ideas and he enjoyed expressing himself in a provocative fashion, perhaps reflecting the sense of joy and freedom he personally experienced at this time. He began the first three books of The Gay Science while still in the mountains at Sils-Maria the previous summer. Book Four was written entirely in Genoa and was subtitled “St. Januarius” in honor of the new year. Since it was conceived separately and specifically in the month of January I wanted to explore it first, coming back to the other books next. Book Five was written more or less as an addendum and placed in the 1887 edition of the work. I won’t consider it until much later in t...