Report to Greco — Nikos Kazantzakis

Disarmingly personal and intensely philosophical, Report to Greco is a fictionalized account of Greek philosopher and writer Nikos Kazantzakis's own life, a sort of intellectual autobiography that leads readers through his wide-ranging observations on everything from the Hegelian dialectic to the nature of human existence, all framed as a report to the Spanish Renaissance painter El Greco. The assuredness of Kazantzakis's prose and the nimbleness of his thinking as he grapples with life's essential questions -- who are we, and how should we be in the world? -- will inspire awe and more than a little reflection from readers seeking to answer these questions for themselves.