Books / Lived experience, memoir & fiction
When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession
Irvin D. Yalom’s 1992 novel imagines an encounter between physician Josef Breuer and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in nineteenth-century Vienna.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Irvin D. Yalom
Edition: 1992 Basic Books hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Edition year: 1992
Language and origin: English (United States)
Form and genre: Memoir, Fiction & Lived Experience
Level: Introductory
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: A fictional encounter between Breuer and Nietzsche; Relationships, philosophical ideas and the early history of psychotherapy; A literary portrayal of a therapeutic relationship
APA 7th reference: Yalom, I. D. (1992). When Nietzsche wept: A novel of obsession. Basic Books.
What it is
When Nietzsche Wept is a novel by psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom. Library catalogues identify the original hardcover as a 1992 Basic Books publication.
What it covers
The author’s description introduces a fictional encounter between Breuer and Nietzsche, brought about by Lou Salomé. The story draws on historical figures and explores their imagined relationship.
History and fiction
The novel blends historical figures with invented events. Its conversations and therapeutic encounter should not be used as evidence that these events occurred or that a particular treatment is effective.
Scope and reading note
The author describes themes including suicidal despair. This entry is based on the author’s description and library catalogues; the complete novel and the paired work were not consulted. It does not describe the ending.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werken (Nietzsche) (Lou Andreas-Salomé, 1894)
Reference: Salomé, L. (2001). Nietzsche (S. Mandel, Ed. & Trans.). University of Illinois Press. (Original work published 1894)
A later English translation of Lou Andreas-Salomé’s study of Nietzsche. The full text was not consulted for this entry.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: The novel imagines an encounter between Josef Breuer and Friedrich Nietzsche. (The author’s description was consulted; the complete novel was not reviewed.) [Source 1: Yalom, I. D. When Nietzsche Wept. Author website.]
Sources and inspection notes
Yalom, I. D. When Nietzsche Wept. Author website.
Supports: Author’s description of the novel, its characters and the mixture of fact and fiction; the full novel was not reviewed.
CiNii Books. When Nietzsche wept.
Supports: Catalogue notes a 1992 Basic Books hardcover edition.
Vermont State Colleges Libraries. When Nietzsche wept: catalogue record.
Supports: Catalogue notes original publication in hardcover by Basic Books in 1992.