A.R. Lacey"s Robert Nozick, part of Princeton University Press"s Philosophy Now series, is a careful and attentive look at Nozick"s astonishingly wide-ranging philosophical career. Although Nozick is best known for his defense of libertarianism in Anarchy, State, and Utopia, which showcases his argumentative acumen, his views have been largely met with disdain. But Nozick has also written on epistemology and metaphysics, and even pursued some tantalizing lines of thought about what it means to practice philosophy. In Robert Nozick, Lacey highlights his work but willingly points out when Nozick has crawled too far out on a philosophical limb. The early chapters on ethics and politics are applicable to a number of discussions in contemporary ethics, enlivened by some of today"s prominent ethicists. Unfortunately, what could be a broadly relevant book will at times perplex nonphilosophers. The chapters on epistemology and metaphysics, for example, are rife with symbology, an annoying tendency of professional analytic philosophers, even when narrative would be equally clear. Also, the book"s final chapter, on the most time-honored of big questions, "the meaning of life," is rendered obscure by Lacey"s regurgitation of Nozick"s overly complex discussion. Nonetheless, the book is a useful synthesis for those particularly interested in Nozick. It"s best suited for philosophers; those not conversant in Nozick"s thought will likely find the book a dry read. --Eric de Place