Overview

A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attention--and our personal information--that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we've been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world 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 hear 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.

Full Product Details

9781665122283

Table of Contents

Reviews

How to Do Nothing mimics the experience of walking with a perceptive and sensitive friend, the kind of person who makes you feel, in your bones, that it's a miraculous gift to be alive. -- Seattle Times An eloquent argument against the cult of efficiency, and I felt both consoled and invigorated by it. -- New York Times Book Review An erudite and thoughtful narrative about the importance of interiority and taking time to pay close attention to the spaces around us. -- San Francisco Chronicle Genuinely instructive, elaborating a practical philosophy to help us slow down and temporarily sidestep the forces aligned against both our mental health and long-term human survival. -- Los Angeles Times She struck a hopeful nerve of possibility that I hadn't felt in a long time. -- New Yorker Your chaotic, fraught internal weather isn't an accident, it's a business model, and while 'thoughtful resistance' isn't 'productive, ' Odell proves that it is utterly necessary. -- Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author

"How to Do Nothing mimics the experience of walking with a perceptive and sensitive friend, the kind of person who makes you feel, in your bones, that it's a miraculous gift to be alive."" -- ""Seattle Times"" ""An eloquent argument against the cult of efficiency, and I felt both consoled and invigorated by it."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""An erudite and thoughtful narrative about the importance of interiority and taking time to pay close attention to the spaces around us."" -- ""San Francisco Chronicle"" ""Genuinely instructive, elaborating a practical philosophy to help us slow down and temporarily sidestep the forces aligned against both our mental health and long-term human survival."" -- ""Los Angeles Times"" ""She struck a hopeful nerve of possibility that I hadn't felt in a long time."" -- ""New Yorker"" ""Your chaotic, fraught internal weather isn't an accident, it's a business model, and while 'thoughtful resistance' isn't 'productive, ' Odell proves that it is utterly necessary. -- ""Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author"""

Author Information

Jenny Odell, an artist and writer who teaches at Stanford, has been an artist-in-residence at places like the San Francisco dump, Facebook, the Internet Archive, and the San Francisco Planning Department and has exhibited her art all over the world. Rebecca Gibel is an award-winning stage, television, and voice actress. The narrator of over fifty audiobooks, Rebecca is facile in a wide variety of genres. Rebecca has worked across the country at theaters such as Trinity Rep, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Intiman Theatre, and the Arden Theatre Company. She holds a BA from the College of William & Mary and an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available