Depending on your temperament his fiction can be either very insightful or a total downer. I've found his non-fiction like "The Rebel" to be very accessible esp

Depending on your temperament his fiction can be either very insightful or a total downer. I've found his non-fiction like "The Rebel" to be very accessible especially as philosophical works go (Heidegger and Kant being the epitome of inaccessible to the non-scholar and even then ... ugh). Camus also worked as a journalist so that had an impact on his writing. It is very intense to read Camus straight, so I usually alternate it with something more optimistic or at least humorous. If I'm going to face the absurdity of existence as a mortal human being, I at least need a laugh or two on the way. I remember William Barret's "Irrational Man" being a pretty good overview of existentialist thought.