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A review by leviofmichigan
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
5.0
Read again, 1/13/2025
Back to feeling like it’s awesome! I’ve been thinking a lot about attention lately, how it sort of defines us as humans and how it powerful it is. Reading this again with all of that in mind was awesome. I think we should all be evaluating where we put our time and attention and making sure our attention is in line with our values.
Read again, 9/23/2021
Honestly, it was not as interesting the second time through. And maybe that’s just because I had a better memory of the book than I expected to, but it kind of surprised me. It strikes me as kind of aimless, which I get is kind of the point of the book. And, weirdly, in my first review, I said “fantastic on audio,” but actually, I really don’t like this narrator. I honestly prefer authors reading their own works as of late, I guess I’ve gotten used to that with Braiding Sweetgrass and Unfollow and such. I guess I’ll just say I can’t blame people who didn’t like this book, but I’m keeping it at five stars because I know I really loved it the first time I read it.
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Not since L'Engle's A Circle of Quiet have I quite enjoyed reading such a meandering book. As far as I can tell, that seems to be the main complaint most reviewers have, but I can't help but see this as the book's central strength. It is about so much, I'm sure I'll be remembering stray bits here and there for the next few years, and yet, the main point leaves exactly the impression it needs to.
It's not so much a book encouraging us to run from social media if we are able, like Jaron Lanier's Ten Arguments, or a book recording all the ways in which Big Tech and the Attention Economy, among other concepts and players, are failing us, like Shoshana Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism, but something of a memoir, beginning a dialogue about the many options we have on the table, and the options we've forgotten.
Definitely recommend. Fantastic on audio.
Back to feeling like it’s awesome! I’ve been thinking a lot about attention lately, how it sort of defines us as humans and how it powerful it is. Reading this again with all of that in mind was awesome. I think we should all be evaluating where we put our time and attention and making sure our attention is in line with our values.
Read again, 9/23/2021
Honestly, it was not as interesting the second time through. And maybe that’s just because I had a better memory of the book than I expected to, but it kind of surprised me. It strikes me as kind of aimless, which I get is kind of the point of the book. And, weirdly, in my first review, I said “fantastic on audio,” but actually, I really don’t like this narrator. I honestly prefer authors reading their own works as of late, I guess I’ve gotten used to that with Braiding Sweetgrass and Unfollow and such. I guess I’ll just say I can’t blame people who didn’t like this book, but I’m keeping it at five stars because I know I really loved it the first time I read it.
—————————————————
Not since L'Engle's A Circle of Quiet have I quite enjoyed reading such a meandering book. As far as I can tell, that seems to be the main complaint most reviewers have, but I can't help but see this as the book's central strength. It is about so much, I'm sure I'll be remembering stray bits here and there for the next few years, and yet, the main point leaves exactly the impression it needs to.
It's not so much a book encouraging us to run from social media if we are able, like Jaron Lanier's Ten Arguments, or a book recording all the ways in which Big Tech and the Attention Economy, among other concepts and players, are failing us, like Shoshana Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism, but something of a memoir, beginning a dialogue about the many options we have on the table, and the options we've forgotten.
Definitely recommend. Fantastic on audio.