Book Review Podcast: Nietzsche Bewitches America and the Science of Middle Age January 13, 2012, 6:20 pm In this Sunday's Book Review, Alexander Star reviews a new book about the reactions of Americans to the powerful and controversial work of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Mr. Star writes: From the start, Nietzsche's American readers were bewitched and bedeviled. His hatred of Christian asceticism, middle-class sentimentality and democratic uplift was an assault on 19th-century America's apparently most salient characteristics. For that very reason, he attracted young Americans who felt estranged from their culture, and has continued to do so. But today's inescapable and perplexing Nietzsche is not necessarily the same Nietzsche who inspired readers in the past; and it's the achievement of Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen's "American Nietzsche" to show how that is the case. On this week's podcast, Mr. Star discusses his review and Nietzsche's impact on the American audience; Patricia Cohen discusses her new book about the science of middle age; Julie Bosman with notes from the field; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news.