Nietzsche, the philosopher seemingly opposed to everyone, has met with too little opposition himself. He has dominated contemporary thought, becoming the touchstone for Freud, Heidegger, Deleuze, Lyotard, Bataille, Foucault, Derrida, Adorno and Weber. In this provocative, sometimes disturbing book, Bull argues that merely to reject Nietzsche is not to escape his lure. He seduces us by appealing to our desire for victory, and inviting the reader to identify with the will-to-power of the superman. Only by "reading like a loser" and failing to live up to his ideals can we move beyond Nietzsche to a different form of nihilism, capable of a still more radical revaluation of all values. This opens the way to a philistinism and subhumanism that expand the boundaries of society, gradually undermining culture - and even language - until we are left with nothing in common.

Anti-Nietzsche is a subtle and subversive engagement with Nietzsche and his interpreters. Written with economy and clarity, it shows how a 'politics of failure' might change what it means to be human.