Scan barcode
Reviews
Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable by Eric A. Stanley
charliebenwah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I think this was very insightful and important to read, however, i don’t agree with everything Stanley argued in a theoretical sense.
pink_distro's review against another edition
5.0
4.5. one of this book's central arguments is that racialized anti-queer/trans violence is foundational to the modern order of things (settler-colonial US democracy), and not an aberration or some old thing. it also argues that systemic "inclusion" isn't a reduction of violence, but is (and has been historically) a continuation or heightening of violence. these points are very important to any queer/trans organizing today and are well argued.
along the way, Eric Stanley theorizes and reframes interpersonal anti-queer/trans violence, blood donations, the origin of AIDS, potential liberatory trans aesthetics, suicide, the legacies of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, solitary confinement, and much more. these individual subsections made vital interventions that were often easier for me to grasp on their own than the overarching theoretical arguments that i struggle with.
its true that this book spends a great deal of time sitting with devastating and detailed scenes of brutal anti-queer/trans violence. the text is very distressing to read at times due to that. but their engagement with these scenes didn't feel unthoughtful to me. in my opinion, the first chapter on overkill came to insightful conclusions that really could not have been reached without that engagement. in the fourth chapter, they intellectually engage with the thought work of queer/trans suicide notes and video logs smuggled out of prisons. this is heart-rending to read. but it is also such a deeply different, more dignified, intimate, and real mode of engagement with anti-queer/trans violence than anything else i've seen in our society.
it's also true that the register of this book is in some ways very "academic." there were many times i felt like i couldn't quite grasp the ideas presented because i havent read any Foucault or Freud, or enough Fanon. thats unfortunate. but idk how much i can blame the book for that.
and there are many times when i am grateful
for Stanley's tongue-twisting and poetic writing. the way anti-queer/trans violence is rendered in mainstream discourse — 'tragedy,' 'hate crime,' an 'epidemic' of murdered trans women of color, a 'senseless' killing or mass shooting, etc. — is just numbing. and it does nothing close to representing the reality of our society and its violence. Stanley's writing is confusing/difficult at times. but it is also often deeply moving, radicalizing, thoughtful, and just real.
along the way, Eric Stanley theorizes and reframes interpersonal anti-queer/trans violence, blood donations, the origin of AIDS, potential liberatory trans aesthetics, suicide, the legacies of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, solitary confinement, and much more. these individual subsections made vital interventions that were often easier for me to grasp on their own than the overarching theoretical arguments that i struggle with.
its true that this book spends a great deal of time sitting with devastating and detailed scenes of brutal anti-queer/trans violence. the text is very distressing to read at times due to that. but their engagement with these scenes didn't feel unthoughtful to me. in my opinion, the first chapter on overkill came to insightful conclusions that really could not have been reached without that engagement. in the fourth chapter, they intellectually engage with the thought work of queer/trans suicide notes and video logs smuggled out of prisons. this is heart-rending to read. but it is also such a deeply different, more dignified, intimate, and real mode of engagement with anti-queer/trans violence than anything else i've seen in our society.
it's also true that the register of this book is in some ways very "academic." there were many times i felt like i couldn't quite grasp the ideas presented because i havent read any Foucault or Freud, or enough Fanon. thats unfortunate. but idk how much i can blame the book for that.
and there are many times when i am grateful
for Stanley's tongue-twisting and poetic writing. the way anti-queer/trans violence is rendered in mainstream discourse — 'tragedy,' 'hate crime,' an 'epidemic' of murdered trans women of color, a 'senseless' killing or mass shooting, etc. — is just numbing. and it does nothing close to representing the reality of our society and its violence. Stanley's writing is confusing/difficult at times. but it is also often deeply moving, radicalizing, thoughtful, and just real.
girlnouns's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Hard to follow at times
honeyvoiced's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Stanley’s work would greatly benefit from more accessible language.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Kidnapping, Body horror, Hate crime, and Murder
Moderate: Deadnaming
alexandramiller's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Is this the worst book I've ever read?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Hate crime, Violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Bullying, Death, Blood, Torture, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide
foundeasily's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
clairefrances_8's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Truly impactful book that should be on everyone’s “must read” list - Stanley’s excavation of archive, care with curation of trans lives, and theorization of queer/trans existence in the world (as it is negated, made ungovernable, etc) traverses a history of violence not as merely acts themselves but the atmospheric variables that allow for and made room for such violence to occur.
Note: content warnings are about events Stanley uses as case studies within each chapter. The events are described with details pertaining to conclusions and analysis that are being made - not romanticized for narrative sake.
Note: content warnings are about events Stanley uses as case studies within each chapter. The events are described with details pertaining to conclusions and analysis that are being made - not romanticized for narrative sake.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder