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A review by peachachu
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
2.0
I'm feeling a bit betrayed by this book. I went into it expecting a sort of self-help/sociology combo on how to resist the addictive pull of technology and, by extension, capitalism, and what I got was some abstract academic ramblings and random personal anecdotes about bird watching?? Odell has some good ideas and this book is clearly well-researched; however, the way it was written felt so meandering, hard to parse, and just incredibly BORING.
My main problem is that Odell doesn't seem to have any sort of clear argument. She presents a series of historical factoids and personal stories—some more interesting than others—to show how we might redirect and reclaim our attention away from our capitalist society, only to backtrack with a note about how not everyone can afford the cost of resistance. I understand that she's trying to show that this is a deeply nuanced subject and there is no one "right" answer, but I'm left wondering—what was the point of this book then?? It seems like only the highly privileged west coast elite can afford to live the kind of attention-resistant, part-time job lifestyle of long nature walks and secluded cabin trips that Odell is touting. It felt like the answer to resisting the attention economy is just "have money, leisure time, and live in an area with access to abundant art and nature." And if you don't like bird watching? Well, you're shit out of luck. Seriously, this book ended up being 25% about birds. Sorry, but I'M NOT INTERESTED IN SPENDING MY MEAGER FREE TIME BIRD WATCHING!!! I think bad marketing is to blame here for casting this book as something that it is clearly not: it's more of a personal manifesto on how SHE likes to redirect her attention, and it just did not resonate with me at all.
Perhaps I'm not ready to engage with resisting the attention economy in the way that Odell posits. While I agree with her that it's important to reevaluate what we consider "useful" in order to resist the pull of constant productivity, I still find myself in the "time well spent" category. Meaning, in the words of Bartleby the Scrivener, when it comes to staring at abstract art, bird watching, and other forms of "doing nothing" that Odell suggests—including reading this book—"I would prefer not to."
My main problem is that Odell doesn't seem to have any sort of clear argument. She presents a series of historical factoids and personal stories—some more interesting than others—to show how we might redirect and reclaim our attention away from our capitalist society, only to backtrack with a note about how not everyone can afford the cost of resistance. I understand that she's trying to show that this is a deeply nuanced subject and there is no one "right" answer, but I'm left wondering—what was the point of this book then?? It seems like only the highly privileged west coast elite can afford to live the kind of attention-resistant, part-time job lifestyle of long nature walks and secluded cabin trips that Odell is touting. It felt like the answer to resisting the attention economy is just "have money, leisure time, and live in an area with access to abundant art and nature." And if you don't like bird watching? Well, you're shit out of luck. Seriously, this book ended up being 25% about birds. Sorry, but I'M NOT INTERESTED IN SPENDING MY MEAGER FREE TIME BIRD WATCHING!!! I think bad marketing is to blame here for casting this book as something that it is clearly not: it's more of a personal manifesto on how SHE likes to redirect her attention, and it just did not resonate with me at all.
Perhaps I'm not ready to engage with resisting the attention economy in the way that Odell posits. While I agree with her that it's important to reevaluate what we consider "useful" in order to resist the pull of constant productivity, I still find myself in the "time well spent" category. Meaning, in the words of Bartleby the Scrivener, when it comes to staring at abstract art, bird watching, and other forms of "doing nothing" that Odell suggests—including reading this book—"I would prefer not to."