All of a Piece: The Autobiography of an Essex Man and Wandering Philosopher Hardcover – September 9, 2025

What connects a small boy, his mouth taped shut in kindergarten for supposedly having bitten another child, with a world-renowned expert in neo-Platonism, shut out of his own teaching institute's car park in Rome? Is there a special providence in the fall of a crane's hook only a foot in front of a young scholar's walk outside Trinity College, Cambridge? In All of a Piece, John Rist asks what makes a human life a single, meaningful whole, rather than a disconnected collection of episodes. Answering this question takes him and his readers on an often hilarious, and sometimes moving, international journey-one with its own, hidden, coherence. His life story, interwoven with intellectual passion and rich personal experience, is a compelling narrative offering insight and inspiration that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Read more