"A complex, smart and ambitious book that at first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto." - The New York Times Book Review
Product Code: 5920
ISBN: 9781612198552
Format: Paperback / softback
Publisher: Melville House
Pages: 256
Published Date: 12/29/2020
Availability:In stock
N/A
Price: $17.99

In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives.

Odell sees our attention as the most precious - and overdrawn - resource we have. And we must actively and continuously choose how we use it. We might not spend it on things that capitalism has deemed important … but 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 will change how you see your place in our world.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time - The New Yorker - NPR - GQ - Elle - Vulture - Fortune - The New York Public Library - The Brooklyn Public Library


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“She struck a hopeful nerve of possibility that I hadn’t felt in a long time.” - Jia Tolentino, THE NEW YORKER

How to Do Nothing is 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. You can knock the hustle - and you should.” - Akiva Gottlieb, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Approachable and incisive. . . . The book is clearly the work of a socially conscious artist and writer who considers careful attention to the rich variety of the world an antidote to the addictive products and platforms that technology provides. . . . [Odell] sails with capable ease between the Scylla and Charybdis of subjectivity and arid theory with the relatable humanity of her vision.” - Nicholas Cannariato, THE WASHINGTON POST

“The sentiment behind How to Do Nothing is one of defiance.” - Casey Schwartz, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“An erudite and thoughtful narrative about the importance of interiority and taking time to pay close attention to the spaces around us.” - Annie Vainshtein, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“An eloquent argument against the cult of efficiency, and I felt both consoled and invigorated by it.” - Jennifer Szalai, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

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