Nathaniel Kostar

The Renaissance Man Project

After graduating from college, an aspiring writer finds himself living with his parents and stuck in a dead-end job. One day, he stumbles upon a nearly 500-year-old text, The Book of the Courtier, which describes the skills and virtues of the ideal Renaissance man. Inspired by its teachings, he decides to transform his life into an experiment of self-discovery.

In The Renaissance Man Project, follow the author’s path as he practices Muay Thai in Thailand, recites poetry in the mountains of Italy, plays congas in New Orleans, dances salsa in Puerto Rico, meditates in Mexico, and roams the museums of Paris. The Renaissance Man Project is an exhilarating journey of personal growth and artistic exploration, full of unexpected challenges and triumphs along the way.

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“A wise and varied book. Teeming with both candor and humility!”

Judith McNally

Author of Chopping without Chopping, Micrologues

“Wonderfully conceived and constructed, this book is an adventure. We travel with the author as he turns his life into an experiment to discover who he really is. He decides that to answer this question requires him to travel the globe. But before setting out he embraces an ideal, which is to meet the requirements for becoming a courtier in a royal palace. In our time and place who would have imagined? “

Dave Herrstrom

Poet & Author

“After reading The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione, Kostar decides to pursue manhood—adulthood—by incorporating the skills that Castiglione demands of the perfect courtier, a Renaissance man: Poetry, Combat, Music, Dance, Philosophy, and Art.
This book is a road trip, a memoir, and a hero’s journey. His attempts to master the elements of Castiglione’s list are heartfelt and delightful. The story is, by turns, funny and serious and self-deprecating. Kostar takes himself just seriously enough. It was a joy to read.”