la cerca

This little novel, part history, part travelogue, poses the question that has baffled students of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche for more than century—What would Nietzsche's Revaluation of All Values taught of his view of the "value(s) of life" if the philosopher had indeed finished the "Revaluation," which he hinted at during his lifetime would be his final magnum opus? By creating a fictional account of Nietzsche's having finished the book during his period of presumed dementia from 1889 to 1900, and a Search (la cerca) for the "Values" by several friends over the last years of the twentieth century, the novel serves not only as a pre-quell to the Opera, "The Good European," but as a heuristic device challenging both serious and amateur scholars of Nietzsche to re-consider what the "Revaluation" would have revealed had it been completed and received as Nietzsche's final work, instead of the Will to Power, which was posthumously published by Nietzsche's mendacious sister, and became for many years the focus of Nietzsche's whole philosophy.

la cerca is for philosophy enthusiasts who believe issues of values and truth are still major considerations for continued life on this planet. It also provides a "framework" narrative for other "interpreters" of Nietzsche to use to suggest their version of WHAT it WAS Nietzsche would have said if in fact he had written the final Magnum Opus he promised during his life-time, "The Re-Valuation of All Values," which, according to the consensus of subsequent Nietzsche scholars, was never completed by Nietzsche. la cerca is the fictional story of the "search" for the last work of Nietzsche that is discovered by a group of philosophers. It follows these characters on a journey of intrigue and suspense as the manuscript takes them on a journey that changes their lives forever. The characters discover that he did in fact write this last book while living in Naumburg, Germany during the last decade of the nineteenth century, when intellectuals thought he was a raving madman. Yet, we also learn from la cerca that during those years of his life in Naumburg, he secretly wrote his Last Words to posterity during periods of "lucidity" from his otherwise progressing dementia. Ultimately, the story reveals what the characters find of "value" and "truth" not only in the philosopher's last manuscript, but also in "living" those values and truths as mutual "friends of the furthest love." In this sense, it is a metaphoric story for every person's search for "meaning" and "value" in life.

Patrick S. Cassidy is a civil rights and employment law trial lawyer in Wheeling, West Virginia, who, in this his first novel, pleads his case for the "Power of Love" in Nietzsche, which he finds in Nietzsche's discussion of friendship. Mr. Cassidy also wrote, produced, and directed an original music drama (with music by collaborator Dr. Geoffrey Schoolar of Pittsburgh, PA) entitled "The Good European," which had its world premiere in Wheeling, West Virginia on August 25, 2000—100 years to the day of Nietzsche's death, and is based on the last day of life of the German philosopher. He resides in Wheeling, West Virginia, with his wife Mary Ellen Arthur Cassidy.