I just couldn’t put it down. I loved the original, and the sequel is a triumph. I don’t get to read novels very often, but I am so glad I made some time for this one. Atwood is a genius.
Excerpt in El País →
So I actually didn’t know this was going to happen, but it seems that Capitan Swing, my Spanish publisher, arranged to have an excerpt of the Spanish book published under my name in Spain’s second largest newspaper. It’s pretty weird to see my name on something that I had no idea about, but I suppose this is standard book promotion stuff. At least I like the photo they chose to accompany the excerpt.
Best bookstore on the Main Line
Whenever I’m feeling melancholy, a quick trip to the Title Page always lifts my spirits. The smell of old books and the friendly smile of Beverly Potter cheer me up in no time.
The Spanish media coverage begins →
The Spanish version of the book is about to be released on October 7, and El Español just did a substantive review of Por qué las mujeres disfrutan más del sexo bajo el socialismo: Y otros argumentos a favor de la independencia económica from Capitán Swing.
Proposed new cover for the forthcoming U.S. paperback
It’s much girlier than the last one, but I love the red rose and the orange background.
Weird to see my words in Dutch...
Many thanks to Charlie Magazine for running an except of Waarom vrouwen betere seks hebben onder het socialisme. The book has now officially launched in the Netherlands.
Reading Krupskaya
I have been asked to write an introduction to a new reprint of Nadezhda Krupskaya’s Reminiscences of Lenin, and I am very much enjoying the mental time I get to spend with the young Bolsheviks in exile.
Summer Reading: Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani
Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto – Aaron Bastani
I just loved this book. Well written and exciting, with lots of thought-provoking arguments. For all fans of Andrew Yang, Bastani’s text is a must read.
“Despite the claim that Marx favoured violent revolution, the truth is he never believed that transition beyond capitalism would be an exclusively political process – something so simple to achieve as to merely require replacing one group of rulers with another. It certainly entailed class struggle and the working class gaining political power, but it also needed new ideas, technologies, and social relations.”
“Liberal ends, specifically the individual being uniquely placed to determine their path in life, are impossible without communist means. The possibility of most people finding happiness and meaning is impossible as these things are commodities – subject to profit rather than need.”
Summer Reading: Kids These Days
I read Kids These Days a couple of weeks ago and I have still been processing it.
I don’t have time to write a long or detailed review, so I’ll just offer a few thoughts. I think the book has some profound insights, and it certainly helped me to understand the challenges faced by Millennials in this most dehumanizing stage of capitalism, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that the situation Harris describes didn’t start earlier. If you go back and reread Douglas Coupland’s 1991 novel, in which he coined the term “Generation X,” many of the same trends and concerns discussed by Harris are described there. As someone who survived 8 years of Reaganomics and grew up in tandem with the rise of neoliberalism and the dismantling of the welfare state, I’m a bit shocked that “kids these days” still believe that if you work hard and invest in your own human capital you will get ahead without luck, connections, or masses of inherited wealth.
Does no one read the newspaper anymore? Scholars and journalists have been dubious about the American dream for a long time, so it seems a little weird to complain about being hoodwinked by late capitalism when anyone who wanted to could read any number of books discussing how the American education system serves as a tool for corporate America, starting with the classic 1976 book, Schooling in Capitalist America, by the Marxists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Ginits (a must read!) I know a lot of Millennials who are angry about the system, but not because they feel that they have been uniquely cheated as young people, but because they understand that the whole system unfairly distributes the wealth of society to fewer and fewer people. In other words, there are plenty of Baby Boomers who have been screwed as well. Yes, they have social security and Medicare, but there are still an extraordinary number of senior citizens living in poverty.
I think the hardest thing about the book for me was the ending. While I totally agree that the usual solutions don’t seem to offer a way forward, I am guilty of the kind of hopeful thinking that he criticizes so ruthlessly in his conclusion. Indeed, I admit that my own book offers some lame “bop it” solutions (to use his term), and I can see that this is a problem. But Harris’s suggestion that his generation will become fascists or revolutionaries, without really discussing what that means, also feels a bit disingenuous. The book just ends abruptly, and I worry that his pessimism will be disempowering and paralyzing for those who read it. I mean, if the system is so totally screwed, why struggle at all? Why do anything? Rather than becoming fascists or revolutionaries, maybe the entire Millennial generation will just walk apathetically into some future turbo-capitalist dystopia. Or perhaps be bought off and placated with UBI, legalized marijuana, public Netflix, and communal X-boxes? I don’t know. There’s lots to discuss here, so it’s definitely worth a read.
The British paperback has been launched! →
So happy that Vintage paperbacks did such a wonderful job with the paperback version of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence.
Interview in GQ! →
Thanks so much to Sophia Benoit for asking such great questions.
My review of Sunkara's The Socialist Manifesto →
Midlife: A Philosophical Guide
I was browsing through the new non-fiction section of my local public library yesterday, and I stumbled upon this short book. Since I am about 10 days away from my 49th birthday, the title sort of spoke to me (for obvious reasons). I also loved the very simple cover image; I definitely judged this book by its cover! I took it home and just sat down and read it cover to cover. I wasn’t expecting to find anything that I didn’t already know, and in the end, I think the book just reminded me of my own various thoughts about the malaise of the middle years. But there was something deeply satisfying in having a philosophical take on all of it. I especially liked the passages about telic versus atelic goals, and the problem that most academics face when they wake up and realize that they have become finely-tuned goal-achieving machines. Setiya’s diagnosis of the problem was spot on for me, and his suggestions for how to refocus meaning and purpose away from the telic to the atelic made intuitive sense. A powerful little book written with honesty and compassion.
A Nice Write-Up in the Mumbai Mirror →
It’s always a surprise to find these international articles about the book. This one in the Mumbai Mirror.
Little Atoms Podcast with the Brilliant Neil Denny
I was so please to have had the opportunity to speak with Neil Denny on the Little Atoms podcast. He asked such thoughtful and insightful questions, and i love the fact that he allows long-winded academics like me to waffle on when necessary. I really do need to learn how to speak in sound byte one of these days…
A fun conversation with Dan Snow on the History Hit podcast
Thanks so much to Dan Snow for reaching out to me to be a guest on his wonderful History Hit podcast. I had so much fun during this conversation; Dan asked the most thoughtful and insightful questions.
My new book!
So so so excited that this one is finally out. I’ve been working on this book for almost a decade.
A review all the way from Bangladesh!
I just found this amazing review all the way from Bangladesh. The book is definitely making it’s way out into the world.
The BigThink
Thanks so much to Scotty Hendricks who wrote a lovely summary and review of the book at BigThink.com.
