Malte reviewed Friendship in an age of economics by Todd May
Review of 'Friendship in an age of economics' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
// REVIEW LACKING //
"We live in an age of economics." And this book costs a whopping £37.95.
Borrowed it at the library. While reading it, I found major proof errors over and over again. Between chapters, the author introduced the same philosophers again, as if you were reading a non-coherent collection of essays. The same quotes are presented several times, each time as if they were there for the first time. You get the impression that the book has a short memory failure. You could at least expect some proof reading and editing when reaching that far down in your pocket for a short book that does not exactly seem to be the magnum opus of Mr. May. The book could very well be better off if it was cut down from 150 pages to 100. Probably someone will be so kind to scan it eventually, and share it …
// REVIEW LACKING //
"We live in an age of economics." And this book costs a whopping £37.95.
Borrowed it at the library. While reading it, I found major proof errors over and over again. Between chapters, the author introduced the same philosophers again, as if you were reading a non-coherent collection of essays. The same quotes are presented several times, each time as if they were there for the first time. You get the impression that the book has a short memory failure. You could at least expect some proof reading and editing when reaching that far down in your pocket for a short book that does not exactly seem to be the magnum opus of Mr. May. The book could very well be better off if it was cut down from 150 pages to 100. Probably someone will be so kind to scan it eventually, and share it with their friends, so they don't have to get an extra job to finance this book.
For those who don't care to read, watch and listen to this video a couple of times, and you get the material more or less: www.anarchist-developments.org/index.php/adcs/article/view/25/20
Todd May's book is a good example of a book, where the whole is not greater than its parts, but instead the other way around. I find the overall conclusions and style of the book too indecisive, which sometimes is deeply frustrating. We are dealing with an "anarchist" speaking in the language of american academic sociologists. It is probably a book made for students in some class on neoliberalism and "contemporary social movements", which would explain the price of the book too.
But yes, there are actually parts, fragments, associating thoughts, a sentence here or there, that gives this book some kind of justification. Many of them rhetorical or poetic innovations. Some of them the exhausting labour of reading and reviewing other sociological work and digging up the few usable tools they may contain.
[I don't recommend reading this book, as there are other more urgent texts to read on friendship and resistance. Now you got the warning. I may be back to share some of the things I found in it if anyone desires to hear, just shout]