True, Friedrich Nietzsche was a weird cat. And, as John Cusack points out in The Sure Thing, he died of syphillis. Nevertheless, Mr. Nietzsche's remarks are frequently incisive and almost always controversial. (Calling Christianity a "slave religion" and telling folks that "God is dead," even if meant in woe rather than in triumph, is never going to win you many friends.) Both his essays and epigrams are worth a read, if not to glean insight into the post-modern condition, then at least to get a sense of his wry contempt for modern man. Untimely Meditations and Beyond Good and Evil are probably most accessible, but Thus Spake Zarathustra gets a lot of good press too. Enjoy, and remember to memorize a few quotes to defend against cocktail party show-offs. It will infuriate them.