Reddit reviews Existentialism: Basic Writings (Second Edition)

Another option would be to plunge into existentialism in general. This book was used by one of my favorite profs for our existentialism course; it has a lot of really accessible introductions to the excerpts it provides. To me, it seems more valuable to get a total overview of the issues of the time, then look at the arc of one particular philosopher's works, and then plunge into the individual work that appeals to you most. It's better to get at least a generalized sketch of what Nietzsche is responding to and who else was working at the time, to contextualize your reading, because a lot of misunderstanding of Nietzsche comes from total lack of context WRT to his key themes, goals, and ideas.

this is the first book I picked up. I liked that it read like a college class, although the highly intellectual style of writing made it a more difficult read. but it explored and compared many different basics of existentialism and helped me define terms i wasn't comfortable with.