Jenny Odell: How to Do Nothing (2019, Schwartz Publishing Pty, Limited)
256 pages
English language
Published Jan. 19, 2019 by Schwartz Publishing Pty, Limited.
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 …
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.
It was OK. I have sympathy for the author and trust in their genuine and informed interest on the topic. I got lost and bored when too many art references were added. It often felt like polluting a bit the matter with quirky and irrelevant art parallels talking about pieces that are very niche aka that no one knows about, so hard to relate to. I wish the book was shorter and more straight to the point.
This text dovetails beautifully with multiple interest areas - attention economy led capitalism, information overload, zen/mindfulness, local activism, tuning in/dropping out, bird noticing, being hyper aware of your local. This book is well lauded and rightly so. I’m likely to gift copies, and reread. Accessible, érudite, not preachy.
A fun and rambling defense of doing nothing, and resisting our modern productivity culture. And unlike so many condemnations of our modern world, and all the problems within it, this book is calming. It may not give you the answers, but you may find you emerge from it with a better understanding of how to just 'be'.
My rating is definitely influenced by the fact that the book delivered something else than I was expecting. That wouldn't be necessarily bad, but I didn't find the actual content that interesting.
This is a good book that helps to reframe my thinking around what I owe the world for productivity. Combined with Chokepoint Capitalism these books are helping give me a worldview with less obligation to churn out, to colonize, to produce, to give attention to the things of modern life. Choosing to live my boring life at whatever speed I desire regardless of how much ROI that generates is a fine goal in itself.
It is a bit slow going, which should shock absolutely no one. I did enjoy it and found it quite valuable and relaxing. Unlike the aforementioned book, this one did not leave my blood boiling so in a way it can be considered a spiritual antidote.
This book was titled and marketed in a misleading way. It’s not an instructional guide to “how to do nothing” and resist our capitalist culture where every spare moment can be monetized, it’s more of a collection of wandering essays on the joy and necessity of doing nothing, mixed in with the author’s personal journey. In a way, the book itself proves its own point, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.
Read this immediately after [b:Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion|43126457|Trick Mirror Reflections on Self-Delusion|Jia Tolentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544069605l/43126457.SY75.jpg|66925717], and boy, what a contrast. Jenny writes with actual substance, and while her prognosis of the world is still (imo realistically) grim, her musings include some cause for hope and action.
I thought this book threaded the needle of being both academic-adjacent and accessible rather well. At each moment where I began to roll my eyes at Odell's privilege, she headed me off at the pass and addressed it.
A good read, recommend.
