Albert Camus did not kill himself. I started chapter 1 with his startling statement that suicide is a philosophical problem, part of the question of why life is worth living. Camus wrote that statement in his late twenties, but he never attempted suicide and died in his mid-forties when a car driven by a friend crashed into a tree. His wife, however, did try to kill herself, suffering from depression caused in part by his infidelities. Camus himself led a rich life, with a family that included two children, strong friendships, affairs with young actresses, and great professional success as a novelist, dramatist, and journalist. His youthful claims that life is absurd were contradicted by the many sources of meaning in his life, from his activities in the French resistance against the Nazi occupation to his abundant and successful writings.