How to Do Nothing cover art

How to Do Nothing

Resisting the Attention Economy

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How to Do Nothing

By: Jenny Odell
Narrated by: Rebecca Gidel
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About this listen

A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attention - and our personal information - that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we’ve been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world.

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity...doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance. So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious - and overdrawn - resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this audiobook is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.

©2019 Jenny Odell (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Environment History & Culture Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Politics & Government Science Social Sciences Technology & Society Conservation

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All stars
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This book is ostensibly good, but I am really struggling with the narrator, who mispronounces words- including preferences, which is not a hard word to pronounce- and doesn't emphasize the right words in sentences. She just sounds sort of smooth and robotic. So the meaning of the book is much harder to grasp and I find my attention sliding away from it. I also have the ebook (perhaps not that appropriate for a book which wants us to step away from technology, but there we are), so I may try that instead.

Not a good narrrator

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I'm still working through this book, but the narration is very difficult to enjoy. The content seems good so far.

The narrator sounds like Siri from Wish

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I was diligently, meticulously taken on a journey across the world and all her diverse regions as well as through the Odell's personal historical ecosystem of art, activism and science while I walked through Hude Park, sat in my accommodation and bodied across from trees. Will definitely listen again, absolutely chuffed that it comes included.

Enrooted

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It’s an interesting book, but I found the narrator’s voice kept causing me to zone out and even doze off at times. Just couldn’t capture my attention. I ended up getting the book. Far more enjoyable to read than to listen. I suggest listening to the sample before purchasing in case you’re as picky about narrators as I am

Good read, poor listen

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It just keeps going about she is “an artist” and her privileged lifestyle. Nothing about how to do nothing.

Very self centred

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Perhaps I missed the point completely of this book but I found it tedious from start to finish. Here’s an alternative solution . Put your phone away and go for a walk ….

Pointless

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Almost didn't finish if I'm honest. There were just enough interesting titbits for me to keep going but at times this felt more like a book on birdwatching than anything else. Lots of tangents that took a long time to become clear.

Not for me. Not what I was expecting.

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After every chapter I kept hoping that there would be a hint of a big reveal or at least some point. I was to be denied. It feels like the author wanted to get us to step away from the attention economy that is social media but realised that this would not fill up a book. She therefore filled it with commentary on favourite artists and such like and went off in completely different directions each time.

After four hours (audible version) I could bear no more and had to accept that there was no point and there would be no reveal. Hopefully I can return this for something written with a bit more discipline.

What is the point?

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