Myshkin was born on a certain day and died on a certain day - and some things happened to him in between. These things presented him with ethical questions and this book is a record of his attempt to answer those questions. Discovered by his son after Myshkin's death, A Good Life is one man's reckoning with the life he has led and the choices he made. It is at once a philosophical handbook for living and a page-turning narrative. A Good Life is one man's life (birth, death, education, religion, morality, illness and so on) told through a philosophical lens. It is a riveting examination of the ethical questions we face, and the decisions we must make, and a defence of the idea that at the beating heart of morality we find love. And it is written with the conviction that, on their own, moral rules and principles are childish things - risible and easily refuted. It is only a life in its entirety that can be morally judged. A Good Life is sometimes profoundly funny, sometimes deeply serious. It is as readable as a novel and as provocative as the best philosophy. It is the finest work to date by a charming and brilliant thinker.

Rowlands is an excellent communicator of philosophy... He often manages to sum up paragraphs with the kind of pithy aphorism that makes you stop and take stock -- Julian Baggini * Observer *

MARK ROWLANDS was born in Newport, Wales. He is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami and the author of sixteen books, including the bestselling The Philosopher and the Wolf, also published by Granta. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.