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Trade Paperback
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9781612198552
Overview
Overview
"A complex, smart and ambitious book that at first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto."--Jonah Engel Bromwich, The New York Times Book Review
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time - The New Yorker - NPR - GQ - Elle - Vulture - Fortune - Boing Boing - The Irish Times - The New York Public Library - The Brooklyn Public Library
Porchlight's Personal Development & Human Behavior Book of the Year Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance. So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious--and overdrawn--resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind's role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time - The New Yorker - NPR - GQ - Elle - Vulture - Fortune - Boing Boing - The Irish Times - The New York Public Library - The Brooklyn Public Library
Porchlight's Personal Development & Human Behavior Book of the Year Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance. So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious--and overdrawn--resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind's role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Odell, Jenny
- ISBN: 9781612198552
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 8.20 x 0.90
- Number Of Pages: 256
- Publication Year: 2020
Customer Reviews
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Great book, a little too technical in some parts
Tanaya V. - 10 months agoThe book was great, especially giving the scientific research on waiting. But I did get lost in the sauce a couple of times when she went really technical about doing nothing, it wasnt as interesting as the other parts of the book. Overall though, it is something that I would recommend everyone to read.
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Life-changing!
Jessica M. - 6 years 4 months agoThis book changed how I think about work and my relationship to productivity. I read this while I was unemployed and experiencing a lot of anxiety about how I was producing anything. In this book Odell thoughtfully considers how our attention has been monetized to such a degree that we don't grant ourselves space and time to do....nothing. Odell examines art, cultural critics, and her own birdwatching hobby to show how "nothing" is often really just the precursor to something creative and exciting, if only we would let it happen!