Well, there was a fair bit of "this is how as a rebellious teen I first got interested in Existentialism" at the beginning of Bakewell's book, too (and I was sorely glad when we'd finally moved on from there), but yeah. She definitely does not presuppose you're intimately familiar with any of the Existentialists' works going in, nor does she expect you to agree with her all the time. (And she very much also spares us the facile pop culture references.)
As indulgent as Bakewell's introductory chapter was, I came away from it with at least an understanding of what Bakewell wanted to find in her research of the subject matter and that she really got something out of reading the existentialists and had a passion for sharing the ideas she found through them with her readers.
Martin on the other hand ... Grrr. I believe I mentally congratulated the girl who stood him up, felt enraged on behalf of the bookshop that he stole the book from, and thought he was such a phony when he decided to adopt the term "existentialist" for himself.
Oh, there is no question Bakewell was serious about it from the start -- and she really "gets" the Existentialists; otherwise she couldn't have written the book she did. I could still have done with somewhat less of the personal experience stuff and was glad when the book's focus moved back to her main subject. :)
And stealing a book after having gotten stood up by a love interest ... I mean, who are you even "rebelling" against or "paying back" that way? It's not the bookstore's fault you got dumped ...
Martin on the other hand ... Grrr. I believe I mentally congratulated the girl who stood him up, felt enraged on behalf of the bookshop that he stole the book from, and thought he was such a phony when he decided to adopt the term "existentialist" for himself.
And stealing a book after having gotten stood up by a love interest ... I mean, who are you even "rebelling" against or "paying back" that way? It's not the bookstore's fault you got dumped ...