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cvall96's review against another edition
5.0
Dazzling. Picks up where Lazzarrato left off and soars mightily. Poetry as the way forward; a defense of irony; jazz up your language.
casey_robertson's review against another edition
3.0
Berardi has a lot of interesting ideas but I become lost in his application of his ideas to our material world. Between this one and Breathing, I have found many quotations that I’ve found profound and moving but cannot say I appreciate the works as wholes. I’d like to give it another shot some day.
partypete's review against another edition
4.0
some parts of this book were better than other parts of this book. there are some really interesting aphorisms than can be plucked away from a sea of incorrect predictions written during 2011. I could praise the bits that came true as being brilliant foresight, but doing so is like listening to one of my tarot readings and being like “see?! that one ambiguous thing I said about power came true!!”
cultural critics should really be cautious writing about the present. some of us get to be Susan Sontag, while others of us are doomed to be Francis Fukuyama.
this book would have strongly benefited from a more nuanced discussion of poetry rather than speaking about it in the most abstract way possible!
cultural critics should really be cautious writing about the present. some of us get to be Susan Sontag, while others of us are doomed to be Francis Fukuyama.
this book would have strongly benefited from a more nuanced discussion of poetry rather than speaking about it in the most abstract way possible!
footnotesto's review against another edition
3.0
Frustrating and inconsistent. Moments of interest, but generally too vague to be illuminating.
jcr610's review
4.0
What this small book lacks in argumenative rigor, it more than makes up for in passion and a keen address of what seem to be our cultural plagues today. More a sermon than an argument, really, but I'm not complaining. Its message--that slowing down, reconnecting with sensibility in the body, breathing through the voice are constructive political acts in this climate--is one I'm wholly sympathetic towards. Recommended for anyone who feels overwhelmed, or perhaps underwhelmed too.
notedhermit's review against another edition
2.0
Frustrating overall. The finance-y bits were fine if nothing all that new, and the latter portions on poetry's role in the uprising were frustratingly short and surface-level. It felt very padded, although some good shined through here and there, and a few beautiful passages. The all too brief discussion of the Wittgenstein quote wasn't groundbreaking or anything, but did strike me as useful/productive for thinking through poetry as politics.
Not sure how I feel about reading more Bifo right away.
Not sure how I feel about reading more Bifo right away.
whitehousedotcom's review
3.0
dear bifo,
i don't think you actually know anything about economics--or poetry, for that matter. and if you do, then you're doing a really bad job proving it. i know literary explication has always been a weak spot for you, which is a shame because you really botched that section on rilke. also, stop yammering about fiat currency and the gold standard. besides being old hat, it makes you seem like you're avoiding any more complicated/rigorous discussions about econ. i'm not mad, i'm just disappointed, and maybe i expected more from you after reading The Soul at Work. oh, and in my edition, you use the wrong "discrete" on page 19. embarrassing!
much love,
mk
i don't think you actually know anything about economics--or poetry, for that matter. and if you do, then you're doing a really bad job proving it. i know literary explication has always been a weak spot for you, which is a shame because you really botched that section on rilke. also, stop yammering about fiat currency and the gold standard. besides being old hat, it makes you seem like you're avoiding any more complicated/rigorous discussions about econ. i'm not mad, i'm just disappointed, and maybe i expected more from you after reading The Soul at Work. oh, and in my edition, you use the wrong "discrete" on page 19. embarrassing!
much love,
mk
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