Lost in Thought
Zena Hitz's Lost in Thought defends intellectual life as something worth doing for its own sake, not for career payoff or social recognition. Hitz, a tutor at St. John's College in Annapolis, left a tenured-track research career to take vows in a Catholic religious community before returning to teaching the great books. The book moves between Augustine, Albert Einstein, Malcolm X, Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, and Hitz's own years inside and outside the academy. The argument is that contemplation, the act of careful thought without instrumental payoff, is one of the higher uses of a human life, and that the modern university has largely lost sight of why it exists.
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A St. John's College tutor defends intellectual life as something worth doing for its own sake, drawing on Augustine, Einstein, Malcolm X, and Elena Ferrante.
Lost in Thought blends memoir and philosophical essay. Zena Hitz reflects on her own path from Yale and Princeton through a brief monastic life and back to teaching, framing the book around real biographical episodes.
Lost in Thought was written by Zena Hitz, published in 2020 by Princeton University Press.
Lost in Thought is 240 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Lost in Thought takes most readers 4 to 5 hours to finish.
Lost in Thought is a standalone novel by Zena Hitz, not part of a series.
Lost in Thought is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.