Cruel Optimism

A very intricate and dense meditation on how culture and people adapt to the uncertain present, once the idealized "good life"- whether romantically, economically etc- has dissolved. I admire the ability Berlant had to weave together class analysis, psychoanalysis, affect and queer theory into a seamless whole in addition to their choice of art works to study. Like the best works of cultural criticism, the book feels like hearing the author take you on a tour of the films, books, and performances that captivate them, while witnessing a reading that connects these discrete points into a broader socio-cultural narrative of our present moment.

A good chunk of this book feels like it requires a lot of knowledge about the media being discussed, even with the explanations. There are whole points where I feel like, had I seen or read the texts mentioned, I'd... have a better grasp of the conversation.

Lots of brilliant theory, though the readings of art weren't engaging so tended to skip them. Wished that the writing was less dense - having to read most sentences three times over makes for a difficult bus-reading experience.

I'll be using this A LOT in my own work.